New Sunscreens

By Christine Gorman

As a fair-haired descendant of freckled Irishmen, I once got scorched in just 10 minutes on the Texas coast. So, I take the risk of skin cancer pretty seriously. I jog in the morning, when the sun's rays are least intense, wear a hat when I'm out all day and try to keep my arms and legs covered. But if you're like me, you may discover that the hardest part of staying out of the red this summer is picking the right sunscreen. At my local drugstore last week, I counted no fewer than 66 formulas with nearly as many competing claims. How do you choose?

One way is to look for the new products, just out this year, that protect against both types of harmful sun rays. It used to be that the only part of the ultraviolet spectrum you had to worry about was short-intensity, UV-B radiation, which is primarily responsible for sunburns and the most likely cause of skin cancer. But then researchers discovered that UV-A, which has a longer wavelength than UV-B, does more than just promote wrinkles. It can also damage the skin's underlying connective tissue and possibly even dampen the body's immune system. Could UV-A, therefore, play a role in triggering cancer?

That question hasn't been answered yet--and probably won't be for another couple of decades. But already this year some manufacturers are adding to their sunscreens a new anti-UV-A ingredient called Parsol 1789. The new products are about twice as expensive as regular formulas but offer protection against the whole spectrum of ultraviolet radiation.

Or for a little less money, you can get all the UV-A and UV-B protection you need from titantium dioxide, a tried-and-true chemical agent that physically blocks the sun's rays (hence the name sunblock) from reaching the skin, rather than absorbing them, like most sunscreens. You remember titanium dioxide. Like zinc oxide, it's one of those gunky white pastes that lifeguards used to plaster all over themselves. Both chemicals have been reformulated so that they no longer leave a residue. But some people find that these sunblocks clog their pores or feel sticky on their skin, so they may prefer one of the new products with Parsol 1789, like Ombrelle, PreSun Ultra or Shade UVA Guard.

Whether you prefer sunscreen or sunblock, choose one with an SPF rating of at least 15. Light-skinned people should opt for an SPF rating of 30. If it normally takes you 10 minutes to burn at the beach without any protection, an SPF-15 product will let you frolic in the sun for 15 times 10 minutes, or 2 1/2 hours. After that, you've had your radiation dose for the day. Stay out any longer, even if you reapply sunscreen, and you will burn, just as a turkey cooked too long will eventually burn, no matter how much you baste it.

That's why you should never rely on sunscreen as your only protection. Stay out of the midday sun (from 10 to 3), and you will avoid 60% of the UV-B that hits the earth. Slip on a long-sleeve shirt to protect those vulnerable areas on the shoulders and back. When you use sunscreen, slop it on thick and often. And slap on a wide-brimmed hat, and you can keep 70% of the sun's rays off your face and neck. After decades of their "Slip, Slop, Slap" campaign, Australians are starting to see a decrease in their rate of deaths from melanoma, a particularly deadly form of skin cancer. That's an example worth following.

Visit time.com for more information on sun protection, including a list of Web resources.