Hi both,
I would like to hear your view on how dangerous sun / UV ray exposure really is.
In recent years, public opinion seemed to suggest that even on a cloudy day you ought to wear sun blocker SPF 50+ and that any tanning of the skin equals irreversible damage, aging your skin and making you prone to skin cancer.
Assuming that you don’t live right under the ozone hole and we’re not talking about severe sun burns, I’m curious to what extent this is actually evidence-based and reasonable advice, or whether this is rather something that has been hyped by the cosmetics industry.
Is tanning really such a bad thing? (At least it seems like Jordan enjoys regular tans at the pool - is that on your apartment roof top by the way??)
Thank you in advance and best regards
Tobias
Neither of us are really experts on the subject and there are a lot of moving parts to this question. A brief run-down of my thoughts here: 1. Most people who do not work or spend a lot of time outside are not getting regular exposure to the sun, thus making acute exposures riskier.
2. It’s highly unlikely for most individuals who do not work outside to get sufficient vitamin D from the sun, though serum vitamin D levels don’t really reflect this anyway. Rather, vitamin D tends to be a marker of inflammatory conditions and follows its own course more or less.
3. A note on vitamin D from sunlight: VDD, e.g. the Vitamin D Dose, is the amount of radiation energy delivered from the sun to a given area of skin at a particular latitude, angle, season, and cloud conditions. Additional factors for VDD include, skin-type factor (STF), the fraction of body exposed (FBE), and age factor (AF). STF refers to the propensity for an individual’s skin type burn or tan when challenged with radiation from the sun. STF is classified using the Fitzpatrick scale that ranges from Type I to Type VI, with Type I being the whitest skin that always burns and never tans, whereas Type VI is black skin that never burns and tans very easily. FBE predicts result greater body surface area generate higher Vitamin D3 levels than lower body surface areas. Finally, AF refers to “age factor”, with older individuals producing less Vitamin D3 in response to a given dose of sunlight than younger individuals.
- Short duration sun exposure may be healthy or health neutral for individuals who don’t spend a lot of time outside, but long exposures probably have higher risks than benefits. The current recommendations are for 5-15 minutes of sun exposure between 10 am - 3 pm during Spring, Summer, and Fall in the majority of locations.