If Colorado could bottle sunshine, the warning label would scream: “No sunscreen? Stay away.”
Although most people understand the sun’s rays can lead to skin cancer — especially melanoma, its most dangerous form — a new survey by the nonprofit Melanoma Foundation of New England suggests people throughout the country abandon a basic form of skin protection once the leaves start to turn in the fall.
“For some reason people think Labor Day has come and gone, let’s put the sunscreen away,” said Deb Girard, executive director of the Melanoma Foundation of New England.
The organization, which provides information, advocacy and support for melanoma patients and caregivers, recently surveyed people across the country about their sunscreen use.
The survey of 1,016 adults found that 39 percent of respondents always applied sunscreen in the summer. But the overall percentage of people who report always using sunscreen year-round is only 6 percent.
The survey suggests that those in western states apply sunscreen more routinely than people living in any other geographic region. Sunscreen stats in the West from the survey show:
- 66 percent use sunscreen in the summer
- 38 percent use it in the spring
- 16.9 percent always use sunscreen in the fall
- 45 percent use it in the winter.
In comparison, 56 percent of Midwestern respondents use sunscreen in summer, 46 percent in spring, 35 percent in fall and 24 percent in winter.
Coloradans, who live at altitude and who ski, climb, hike and otherwise play in the mountains, get higher doses of the ultraviolet rays that cause cancer than flatlanders. But the survey shows they don’t use sun block as consistently as those in other western states. For example, only 7.69 percent of Colorado respondents always put on sunscreen during the fall.
According to the Climate Control Center, the Denver area generally has about 300 days each year with at least one hour of sunshine. About 115 per days each year fit the classic definition of clear.
Even if it is not sunny and warm, the sun’s ultra violet radiation damages the skin’s DNA. UVB rays that toast skin cause damage on sunny days. UVA rays penetrate the skin more deeply but don’t cause sunburn, and reach the skin through clouds, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation.
Some Colorado communities are taking steps to help prevent the number of skin cancers in the state, said Jessica Mounessa, co-chair of the Colorado Skin Cancer Task Force.
The city of Wheat Ridge is taking advantage of a Melanoma Foundation program that provides sunscreen dispensers to cities and businesses across the country. The city is applying for two dispensers, which it hopes to have installed in early 2017 at the city pool and in Prospect Park, said Matt Anderson, Parks and Recreation analyst for the city.
The Boulder County Department of Public Health will receive 20 sunscreen dispensers from a Colorado nonprofit, Defeat Melanoma. “Boulder wants to go above and beyond,” Mounessa said. The city also is working to add more shade structures.
The Colorado Department of Health and Environment awarded the University of Colorado School of Public Health and the University of Colorado School of Medicine’s Department of Dermatology, both members of the Skin Cancer Task Force, a $75,000 grant that will provide UV cameras that can reveal damaged skin to 10 Colorado universities — including Denver University and the University of Colorado Auraria and Boulder campuses.
Melanoma is the leading cause of cancer death in women between 25 and 30, according to the Melanoma Research Foundation.
“Indoor tanning is a huge issue on Colorado campuses,” Mounessa said.
The task force does skin checks and screening at wellness and other events in Denver. It also provides similar services on request from organizations like the U.S. Postal Service, and the Gathering Place, a day-time, drop-in center for homeless women and children.
The Melanoma Foundation of New England has donated sunscreen dispensers to the city of Boston, Massachusetts Department of Recreation for state beaches and Randall’s Island Park — the first New York City park to install the dispensers.
In some high-altitude resorts like Copper Mountain, sun screen is available at lifts for skiers to pump from containers.
Susan Schroeder, assistant professor in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine, called the sunscreen dispensers a good idea to help prevent deadly melanoma, which has especially high mortality rates for men over age 65.
About 5.4 million basal and squamous cell skin cancers — the most common forms — are diagnosed each year, according to the American Cancer Society. Melanoma, the most deadly type of skin cancer, will account for about 76,380 cases of skin cancer in 2016.
An estimated 6,750 men and 3,380 women in the U.S. will die from melanoma in 2016, according to SkinCancer.org.
Before age 50, melanoma incidence rates are higher in women than in men, but by age 60, rates are twice as high in men, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.
The academy also says the annual incidence rate of melanoma in non-Hispanic Caucasians is 25 per 100,000, compared to four per 100,000 in Hispanics and one per 100,000 in African-Americans.
But in people of color, melanoma is often diagnosed at later stages, when the disease is more advanced.
Sunburns that blister, especially if the person is under 18 when they get those burns, are particularly dangerous and double the chance that person will get melanoma later in life. But even minor sunburns can be dangerous because sun damage has a cumulative effect as people age, Schroeder said.
“Every little bit of sun you get, the body is going to remember that.”
- Use broad-spectrum sunscreen that protects against both ultraviolet A and B radiation.
- There are two main types of sunscreen: chemical, and physical. If used properly, either is effective.
- Chemical sunscreens include avobenzone, homosalate or octocrylene and absorb UV radiation and render it inert. Chemical sunscreen must be reapplied about every two hours to remain effective because the chemical process of protecting the skin turns it into liquid.
- Physical sunblocks include titanium dioxode, zinc oxide or both. “It sits on the skin and the rays bounce off,” said Susan Schroeder, assistant professor in the Department of Dermatology at the University of Colorado School of Medicine. Although the sun doesn’t use up the chemicals, it is still a good idea to reapply them periodically.
- Always reapply sunscreen after swimming or exercising.