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Harmful rays from the sun, sunlamps and tanning beds may cause:
Be sure to follow the seven steps to safer sunning especially if you answer yes to any of these questions:
Give babies and children extra care in the sun.
1. Stay in the shade. Avoid the sun from 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM. This is when sun rays are strongest. Don’t be fooled by cloudy skies. Harmful rays pass through clouds.
2. Use sunscreen products on your skin. Many suntan products have sunscreens to protect your skin from the sun.
Products with sunscreens have an “SPF” number on the label. SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. A higher number means it protects longer. Buy products with an SPF number of 15 or more.
Buy products whose label also says: “broad spectrum,” meaning it protects against the two types of harmful sun rays “water resistant,” meaning it stays on your skin longer, even if you get wet or sweat a lot.
Tips For Using Sunscreen Products:
3. Wear a hat. A hat with a wide brim helps shade the neck, ears, eyes, and head.
4. Wear sunglasses. Buy only sunglasses with a label saying the glasses block 99 to 100 percent of the sun’s rays. If there is no label, do not buy the glasses.
5. Cover up. Wear loose, lightweight, long-sleeved shirts and long pants or long skirts when in the sun.
6. Avoid artificial tanning methods. This includes sunlamps and tanning beds, as well as tanning pills and tanning makeup.
Tanning pills have a color additive that turns your skin orange after you take them. The FDA has OK’d this color additive for coloring foods but not for tanning the skin. The large amount of color additive in tanning pills may be harmful.
Tanning makeup is put on the skin to make it look tan. Sometimes the color can be washed off with soap and water. Other times, it wears off after a few days. These products are not sunscreen lotions and will not protect your skin from the sun.
7. Check your skin regularly for signs of skin cancer. Look for changes in the size, shape, color or feel of birthmarks, moles and spots. If you find any changes or find sores that are not healing, see your doctor.
Ask your doctor or other health-care worker. And ask the FDA. There may be an FDA office near you. Look for the number in the blue pages of the phone book. You can also contact the FDA through its toll-free number, 1-888-INFOFDA (1-888-463-6332). Or online at www.fda.gov
The Food and Drug Administration, or the FDA, is a United States government agency. The FDA makes rules about many products consumers use when sunning or tanning. These rules help protect the health of consumers.
Department of Health and Human Services
Food and Drug Administration
5600 Fishers Lane (HFI-40)
Rockville, MD 20857
FDA03-1118C