• Daily exposure to the sun over a lifetime is a major cause of skin damage, including wrinkling and skin cancer.
   
• Any tan indicates skin damage. The deeper the color of the tan the more extensive the skin damage.
   
• Sunscreens with high SPF numbers may provide less than full protection, because SPF addresses only the UVB spectrum.
   
• Sunlight coming through a window can damage your skin.
   
• Every year, more than 1,000,000 people in the United States get skin cancer. It is the most common form of cancer, with rates growing three to five percent annually. Left untreated, skin cancer may be life threatening. 

Common Misconceptions

• A products’ SPF number is not a true determination of a sunscreen’s capability of protecting the skin from the suns harmful rays. SPF is only an indication of protection from one wavelength of Ultraviolet light, the UVB (290nm-320nm). This wavelength accounts for about 10% of the Ultraviolet light that reaches the earth’s surface, and when it comes to our skin, it is the cause of the early redness experienced during sun exposure.  

• The statement that an SPF of 45 is not that much better than an SPF of 30, maybe or may not be true, since SPF addresses only the UVB wavelength. SPF allows for no interpretation of the products’ UVA protection capability, It should be noted that until quite recently UVA was thought to be harmless, our current rating system of SPF numbers addressed only UVB.         
                                        

• No official rating system yet exists for UVA protection. So, even if you use a high SPF number sunscreen, you may still be vulnerable to skin damage from the sun’s UVA rays.