Sunscreens: everything you need to know
The sun is essential for the synthesis of Vitamin D, which has a positive effect on our physical and, by extension, mental health.
On the other hand, the sun and its ultraviolet radiation are responsible for its harmful properties such as photoaging, sunburn and the development of skin cancers.
The ultraviolet radiation emitted by the sun that reaches the earth’s surface is 2.
UVB constitutes approximately 5% of the radiation that reaches the surface and is mainly responsible for sunburn, hyperpigmentation and the appearance of skin cancers.
And UVA which constitutes the remaining 95% of the rays that reach the earth’s surface and is mainly responsible for photoaging and less for carcinogenesis.
The protection provided to us against these harmful effects of the sun is the use of sunscreens which, with various natural or non-natural filters, reflect and absorb these harmful radiations from the skin.
There are two major categories of sunscreens, those with natural and those with chemical filters.
Sunscreens with chemical filters include a multitude of factors that absorb and do not reflect the ultraviolet radiations and convert them into an insignificant amount of heat.
In natural filters substances such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are used which reflect and do not absorb the ultraviolet radiations and fragment them into various harmless wavelengths.
All sunscreens have an SPF (sun protection factor)
This factor essentially measures the ability of sunscreens to protect the skin from sunburn. More specifically, this index measures the product’s ability to protect the skin from redness caused by ultraviolet radiation (UVB) compared to the protection it provides without the use of sunscreen.
The American Academy of Dermatology recommends that sunscreens not be used on infants under 6 months of age. If, however, for some reason they cannot avoid sun exposure, they can use a small amount of sunscreen, preferably with natural filters.
