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Sun Sense
The sun
provides light and life sustaining support that we could not live
without. Besides providing the means for plant, animal, and human life
to exist on earth, the sun also provides many benefits to human health.
There are some dangers, namely sunburn and skin cancers that are thought
to be caused by over exposure to the sun, but the risks of these have
been overly exaggerated by manufacturers of sun protection products and
the media.
It is not
the sun itself but rather the light rays produced by the sun that can
cause the skin to burn and that are thought to be responsible in part at
least, for an increased risk for the development of nonmalignant and
malignant skin cancers. Experts agree that there are other environmental
factors such as an increasingly thinning ozone layer which is a natural
defensive shield against harmful light rays. Pollution and other factors
may also play a part in causing skin cancers, however experts have not
quite figured out how or to what degree they may yet.
The light
rays from the sun are technically defined as ultraviolet light with
various wavelengths. These are more commonly known to us as UVA and UVB
rays. UVC is another ultraviolet wavelength from the sun, but it has
received much less attention and so you may never have heard of it
before. The upper level of the atmosphere of the earth is where the ozone
layer is found. This is a natural defensive shield that protects us from
the full intensity of the nine thousand, nine hundred and forty degree
Fahrenheit surface temperature of the sun, while allowing light to pass
through.
The light
rays produced by the sun have significantly lower temperatures than the
suns core when they finally reach the earth. The ozone layer also offers protection
against harmful UVA, UVB, and UVC rays. It does not offer as much
protection as it used to because the pollution we produce has caused a
thinning of the ozone layer, reducing some of its protective abilities.
Less ozone protection does raise the risk of sunburns and skin cancer with over exposure to
the sun's rays.
Offering
people products they can use to protect themselves from the more harmful
affects of the sun is why sunburn protection products were developed, or
at least this is what the makers of those products state is the purpose
behind their development. Whether they are truly concerned about helping
people protect their skin and health is debated in many leading
health and consumer awareness circle, especially since so many
products, each with different warnings about the dangers of the sun and
the proper amount of protection needed exists.
A
marketplace flooded with so many different sun protection products
bearing differing and easily misunderstood and in some cases misleading
information has resulted in the public becoming overly fearful of
any exposure to the sun. After all should you go with an SPF of 15, 30,
or 50? 15? 30? 50? For now a product containing SPF 15 is considered by
many health experts to offer the protection needed. People with fairer
skin tones and those who spend more time outdoors may want to use a
product with a higher SPF.
We will not
even get into the new products now available that suggest only products
offering both UVA and UVB protecting properties at different strengths
offer the best protection. We leave this alone for now because the
experts have not themselves finished hashing this out and separating
fact from fiction, for profit yet. When credible evidence and information
becomes available, we will most certainly pass that on to you. We want
our readers to be informed readers.
The sun has
many benefits to us as humans that you do not hear so much about outside
of school science classes. The sun provides for the process of
photosynthesis which subsidizes nearly all life on earth. The sun
also provides energy to the earth. Our climate and weather are also guided by the
powerful energy produced by the sun and the sun helps clean our air
and water.
The sun
promotes the production of vitamin D in the body which is important for
developing and maintaining strong bones and health. Sunlight and the
warmth of the sun interact with chemicals in the brain to elevate mood
stabilizers, improving our sense of well being. Despite all of the
claims made against the sun as a skin damager and cancer causing agent,
the sun dries out dead skin cells so that they slough off more easily to
make room for new skin cells to grow. This effectively keeps our skin
cleaner for better skin health.
The bottom
line here is that the sun is not the insidious monster that it has been
depicted to be by many of the makers of sun protection products and many
media outlets. The risks posed by the sun have been overly exaggerated
in order to spawn greater consumer sales of sun protecting products. The
health benefits of the sun have been overshadowed by all of this. The
sun is not to be feared, we need it and it helps promote better health.
Do protect yourself from the harmful affects of the sun's rays by wearing a
trusted brand of sun protection, but do not avoid the sun altogether and
deprive yourself of its many benefits.
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