It may seem like second nature to you to apply sunscreen before going out in the sun, as the media has been bombarding Americans with reports of the dangers of the sun for some time now, but using it is not a good way to limit your sun exposure.

Worldwide, the greatest rise in melanoma has been experienced in countries where chemical sunscreens have been heavily promoted. The rise in melanoma has been exceptionally high in Queensland, Australia  where the medical establishment has vigorously promoted the use of sunscreens. Queensland now has more incidences of melanoma per capita than any other place on Earth. (Garland, Cedric F., et al. Could sunscreens increase melanoma risk? American Journal of Public Health, Vol. 82, No. 4, April 1992, pp. 614-15).

There is another major problem with sunscreen aside from the potential chemical toxicity and that is it blocks your skin's ability to make vitamin D by more than 95 percent. Rather than burying your skin in sunscreen, it is clearly important to get regular sun exposure in order to have optimum health.

Millions of gallons of sunscreen is consumed each year. After application, it doesn't mysteriously vanish - it winds up either soaking into our bodies and accumulating there or is excreted (into the environment) or washed off; again - into the environment.

By using sunscreen, are we swapping the risk of one type of cancer for more serious kinds, plus other health and environmental problems?

Some people just aren't meant to spend lengthy periods in the sun - and light skinned Caucasians are a group most at risk. People with lighter features are 20 times more likely to develop melanoma than African Americans.    Perhaps it's just another case of us needing to work with the environment instead of trying to beat it all the time.

Viktoria Kokorina