Skin Cancer Warning: Only 1 in 3 Americans Wear Sunscreen Despite Health Risks
Despite countless warnings of skin cancer, most Americans still do not wear sunscreen on a daily basis, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
The report found that sunscreen is most often used by women on the skin of the face, and by people with higher household income.
According to the report, 29.9 percent of women apply it to their face and bodies on a regular basis, while only 14.3 percent of men said they regularly used sunscreen. Nearly half of those who do wear sunscreen don't know if they use a formula that protects against UVA and UVB rays.
And nearly half of those who do wear sunscreen don't know if they use a formula that protects against UVA and UVB rays.
"UVB are higher energy and are responsible for sunburn," explained senior analyst Sonya Lunder of the Environmental Working Group, a research advocacy group that publishes a list of best and worst sunscreens every year.
"UVA rays are lower energy and are more constant year round, can go through glass and they are related to skin aging, known to depress the immune system, and are linked to melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer."
Melanoma is the third most-common cancer in adolescents and young adults, and costs our society over $3.3 billion each year. According to the surgeon general's report on skin cancer, "If current trends in cancer death rates continue, melanoma will be the only cancer objective included in Healthy People 2020 that will not meet the targets for reductions in cancer deaths."
