What Is SPF?

Most sunscreens with an SPF of 15 or higher do an excellent job of protecting against UVB. SPF — or Sun Protection Factor — is a measure of a sunscreen’s ability to prevent UVB from damaging the skin. Here’s how it works: If it takes 20 minutes for your unprotected skin to start turning red, using an SPF 15 sunscreen theoretically prevents reddening 15 times longer — about five hours.

Another way to look at it is in terms of percentages: SPF 15 blocks approximately 93 percent of all incoming UVB rays. SPF 30 blocks 97 percent; and SPF 50 blocks 98 percent. They may seem like negligible differences, but if you are light-sensitive, or have a history of skin cancer, those extra percentages will make a difference. And as you can see, no sunscreen can block all UV rays.

But there are problems with the SPF model: First, no sunscreen, regardless of strength, should be expected to stay effective longer than two hours without reapplication. Second, “reddening” of the skin is a reaction to UVB rays alone and tells you little about what UVA damage you may be getting. Plenty of damage can be done without the red flag of sunburn being raised.

Tags:

2 Responses to “What Is SPF?”

  1. antoinette mendes October 28, 2011 at 11:40 #

    sun protection factor.
    i would love to win this hamper, because the best advice i ever received, was to use sunscreen everyday, no matter the weather, except rain of course.
    island tribe sunscreen is one of the most superior products on the market
    today.

Trackbacks/Pingbacks

  1. Bail Bonds - September 23, 2011

    Tweeted This Post ; )…

    Thank you for the informative read….

Leave a Reply

Spam protection by WP Captcha-Free