Newswise — They are decades in the making and have finally been unveiled to help keep you and your skin safer.
Tuesday, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration released their new sunscreen rules in an effort to better protect people from early aging, or worse, skin cancer.
Current estimates are that one in five Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime, according to the American Academy of Dermatology. The two most common kinds, basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, are both easily treated if detected early. The other type of skin cancer, melanoma, is the cause of 75 percent of skin cancer deaths and has been growing in incidence in the past 30 years.
Marian Northington, M.D., UAB assistant professor of dermatology, told Tamron Hall on MSNBC's NewsNation Tuesday afternoon that you can protect yourself by wearing suntan lotion, and the new FDA rules will make that easier.
"People are unsure that they need protection against UVA and UVB rays, and now the companies will have to provide equal protection for both types of cancer-causing UV radiation," Northington explained.
Here are some of the new FDA rules, which will go into effect in one year:
If a product passes the FDA's test for protection against UVA and UVB rays, it can be labeled as being "Broad Spectrum." The catch is that the sunscreen must be at least SPF 15 or higher, if they want to state that the product will reduce the risk of skin cancer and early aging, when used as directed.
If it's less that SPF 15, the FDA says it does not protect you, and thus cannot make these statements. These and other products that are not Broad Spectrum will be required to have a warning stating that they product has not been shown to help prevent skin cancer or early aging.
Also, the FDA set a new maximum SPF value for sunscreen labels to 50+. No more SPF 80 or SPF 100 craziness. Northington says this is a necessary move to help people be able to choose an effective sunscreen.
"The difference between SPF 50 and SPF 100 is very small. We ask that patients use an SPF 30 on a daily basis, but if they are going to be outdoors, at least use an SPF 50 and re-apply regularly," Northington explains.
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