Recently, Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, a medical journal, has challenged the British and US governments official recommendation for minimum SPF levels in sunscreens.
Dab your face and hands with a sunscreen and you feel safe stepping out under the sun. But how many times have you bothered to check the sun protection factor (SPF) value of the sunscreen you use?
Recently, Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin, a medical journal, has challenged the British and US governments’ official recommendation for minimum SPF levels in sunscreens. The focus of their criticism was the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidance’s recommendation that sunscreens with an SPF value of 15 are sufficient if applied adequately. Dermatologists from Bangalore think otherwise; at least an SPF of 30 is the minimum requirement, they said.
The Drug and Therapeutics Bulletin attacked the UK NICE guidance on sun protection, calling it ‘not in the interests of public health’. The journal editorial mentioned that an SPF of 15 may superficially seem to offer reasonable protection, but the reality of how people actually use sunscreen makes it far less effective than ‘enough’.
“The lower the SPF, the lesser is its protection from sun’s rays. However, an SPF 30 won’t necessarily provide double protection than SPF 15. But it will give a 20% higher protection. SPF 15 is the minimum protection available in a chemical sunscreen. Since this protection level is low, one needs to re-apply it after every one to two hours. The best sunscreen protection, considering Bangalore’s weather, would be the one with SPF 30,” said Dr Sudhamayee Venkatesh, consultant, dermatologist, Columbia Asia Hospital.
Suncreens are also available in SPF 50, 60 and 70. “However, these are cosmetically unacceptable as they give opaqueness like a mask. Also it is difficult to apply thick layers of sunscreen as it generates heat on the skin. Thus it is advisable to re-apply sunscreen every two-and-a-half hours,” said Dr Sudhamayee.
About 2 mg of sunscreen should be applied at every one sq cm of skin, said Dr MK Shetty, dermatologist with Dr Shetty’s Skin and Cosmetic Clinic. However, it doesn’t work well in practice, he added. “If a sunscreen with SPF 15 can be applied in correct amount and right frequency, it can provide protection. But, in most cases, it is applied in a thin layer and is mostly applied once a day,” said Dr Shetty.Anything close to SPF 30 is good for Bangaloreans, he added.
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