Sunscreen Warning Happening in New York State

It is already mid-June and there have been temperatures that are just about 90° in some parts of New York State. There is a very scary warning from the New York state website that you should read especially if you have young kids.

According to the New York state website:

"Over-exposure to UV radiation is the leading cause of skin cancer, including basal, squamous, and melanoma cancers. Melanoma is considered the most dangerous of the three, as it is most likely to spread to other parts of the body. In New York State alone, more than 4,000 residents are diagnosed with melanoma yearly, and it claims approximately 500 lives in the same period."

That is a very alarming number of people in New York state that get skin cancer for something that was already very avoidable. Two of the biggest things that all families should remember is that you should use sunscreen with at least an SPF of 15. If you use an SPF of 15 that blocks out approximately 93% of the UV rays from the sun this summer. If you use an SPF of 30 then that would block out approximately 97% of the UV rays from the sun. Even if you apply sunscreen in the morning or before you go in water you need to reapply it is one of the most important tips of sunscreen this summer: you have to apply new sunscreen at least every 2 hours for it to be effective.

Another important tip is to make sure that your sunscreen is not expired. Last year we were applying sunscreen to ourselves and realized we were still getting burned because the sunscreen was 2 years old and it had expired. Every sunscreen on the bottle somewhere should have an expiration date.