[...] with bottles and tubes covered with claims, "it's really hard to make sense of what all the terminology means," says Roopal V. Kundu, M.D., an associate professor of dermatology at the Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, who researches how people buy and use sunscreen.
Here, then, is the help you need: seven common terms and what they actually mean—and don't. The federal government requires sunscreen claims to be "truthful and not misleading." But only three of the main claims consumers see—"SPF," "broad-spectrum," and "water-resistant"—are strictly regulated by the [U.S.] government and therefore have agreed-upon definitions.
(source)
The article goes on to explain those terms as well as "sport," "dermatologist recommended," "natural," "mineral" and "reef safe."
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 15 2018, @08:53PM (2 children)
So there is no evidence that sunscreen is preventing melanoma, only wild speculation. Further, melanoma rates keep increasing worldwide along with sunscreen use but no one has bothered to figure out whether it is due to sunscreen or not:
http://www.jabfm.org/content/24/6/735.full [jabfm.org]
So, as usual, the understanding is rudimentary but these health experts are advocating people buy some chemical to put on/in their body anyway.
(Score: 2) by MostCynical on Tuesday May 15 2018, @09:18PM (1 child)
Actually, they recommend staying out of the sun and covering up in high UV periods, AND wearing suncream.
They realise most people just won't stay under cover, so hats, long sleeves and suncream are the 'next best' options.
Besides, everyone knows someone who has tanned all their life and not died of cancer, so it won't get you either, right?
"I guess once you start doubting, there's no end to it." -Batou, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Tuesday May 15 2018, @09:28PM
Whatever, its pretty obvious that trying to avoid all sun exposure leaves you vulnerable to tiny bursts of it and will increase any UV induced cancer. Also there is whatever vitamin D effect... These are the same organizations who triggered an obesity epidemic by recommending a high carb diet for decades right?