Entries in sun (3)
Sunscreen: less is actually more
Monday, July 27, 2009 at 17:28 According to the latest issue ( August 2009) of the UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, you shouldn’t get sucked in by super duper high suncreens with SPF values of 70 to 100. The difference is tiny, with an SPF of 40 providing 97% protection and a SPF of 80 providing 99% protection.
The key with any sunscreen is to apply it liberally and frequently - every couple hours to achieve the rated SPF factor on the label.
You also need to remember that the SPF value doesn’t apply to UVA. Those are the really damaging rays that cause aging and contribute to skin cancer.
The article says that any SPF between 15 and 30 is just fine for most people, and if you need more protection then use something with a zinc oxide, titanium oxide, avobenzone or Mexoryl component.
UC Berkeley Wellness Letter, sun, sun exposure, sunscreen, uva a in health Deep Solar Minimum: How low is low?
Thursday, April 2, 2009 at 12:33 April 1, 2009: The sunspot cycle is behaving a little like the stock market. Just when you think it has hit bottom, it goes even lower.
2008 was a bear. There were no sunspots observed on 266 of the year’s 366 days (73%). To find a year with more blank suns, you have to go all the way back to 1913, which had 311 spotless days: plot. Prompted by these numbers, some observers suggested that the solar cycle had hit bottom in 2008.
Maybe not. Sunspot counts for 2009 have dropped even lower. As of March 31st, there were no sunspots on 78 of the year’s 90 days (87%).