Is sunscreen alone effective at preventing sunburn on a high ‐solar beach vacation: A modeling study?

Beach holidays in areas of strong sunlight are popular and sunscreen is often the primary means of photoprotection favored by many people. In this article, we examine how effective sunscreen is in preventing sunburn on a sun-seeking holiday that combines prolonged exposure with high UV levels. We used a computational model to determine how the quantity, frequency, substantivity, and labeled SPF of applied sunscreens impact on the predicted erythemal response in unacclimatized skin over the course of a 7-day holiday and our results indicated that sunscreen on its own may be insufficient to prevent a sunburn-free vacation. AbstractBeach holidays in areas of strong sunlight are popular and sunscreen is often the primary means of photoprotection favored by many people. The object of this study was to estimate how effective sunscreen is in preventing sunburn under high ultraviolet (UV) levels. We used a computational model to determine how the quantity, frequency, substantivity, and labeled SPF of applied sunscreens impact on the predicted erythemal response in unacclimatized skin over the course of a 7-day holiday in a high-solar environment. Our results indicated that sunscreen on its own may be insufficient to prevent sunburn in white skin on a sun-seeking holiday that combines prolonged exposure with high UV levels. Nevertheless, sunscreens have a valuable role to play on a beach holiday especially if an SPF30 or higher is chosen, the product is applied liberally and uniformly...
Source: Photochemistry and Photobiology - Category: Science Authors: Tags: RESEARCH ARTICLE Source Type: research