| Walking down the beach on a bright sunny day you | | | | Now ozone can be good or bad depending on where |
| notice all of the sunbathers are young, tan and | | | | it is. On the earths surface it is pollutant and can |
| healthy looking. The smell of tanning oil is everywhere | | | | actually be harmful to air breathers like say, humans. |
| and the waves are lapping the shore just like in the | | | | High up in the earths atmosphere, ozone or O3 is our |
| vacation brochures. As you head to refreshment | | | | friend and helps to absorb the dark spectrum or |
| stand to get a cool drink and while standing in line | | | | ultraviolet light rays the are constantly bombarding |
| you see what appears to be two walking, talking | | | | the surface of the planet. A problem arises when, as |
| leather handbags. The couple could be in their late | | | | suggested by recent scientific research, the layer of |
| fifties but their skin looks more like ninety. Your mind | | | | protective ozone gets thinner and allows more UV |
| goes back to the sunbathers on the beach and you | | | | radiation to reach the surface. Further research would |
| suddenly realize that there may be a connection | | | | suggest more than a casual connection between |
| between too much sun and the type of skin damage | | | | increases in UV radiation and an increase in the |
| that can leave you looking like an alligator on spring | | | | instance of skin cancers and damage to the eyes. |
| break. | | | | While much is still being debated scientifically, the |
| Tanning is still big business with billions of dollars spent | | | | prevailing attitude is swinging towards avoiding |
| worldwide on indoor tanning sessions, lotions, | | | | overexposure to the sun. |
| self-tanning sprays and the like. In spite of recent | | | | The general rule of thumb when it comes to |
| warnings about spending too much time in the sun, | | | | sunscreen is the higher the SPF or sun protection |
| there still seems to be a very strong societal | | | | factor the better. The factor is calculated rather |
| connection between having a tan and maintaining the | | | | simply, by assuming that with no protection, it takes |
| appearance of health and youth. It is almost as | | | | ten minutes for the sun to turn fair, unprotected skin |
| though we can not help ourselves and lets be honest, | | | | red. Armed with that knowledge you can see how |
| the warmth of the sun just feels good, especially for | | | | effective the SPF rating might be. A product with an |
| those of us who live in less temperate climates and | | | | SPF of four means it will take forty minutes for the |
| spend the long months of winter yearning for the | | | | sun to turn skin red. Higher on the scale, using a |
| warmth of the summer sun. | | | | product with an SPF of 30 means it will take the sun |
| Speaking of money, many producers have jumped | | | | three hundred minutes or about five hours to turn |
| on the sunscreen bandwagon marketing an almost | | | | your skin red. Now this information is not intended to |
| endless variety of creams, lotions and sunglasses that | | | | be a substitute for adequately protecting yourself |
| claim to offer some level of protection from the | | | | but is used merely to make the point that using a |
| dreaded UV or ultraviolet rays that manage to reach | | | | product with a higher SPF rating may afford more |
| the surface of the earth in spite of the protective | | | | protection than a product with a lower SPF rating |
| layer of ozone that surrounds the planet. The | | | | and is certainly better than not using sunscreen at all. |
| airwaves and print media are chock full of information | | | | So do your skin a favor and always use a good |
| about avoiding exposure to UV rats yet many | | | | quality sunscreen and do not overdo the sunshine, |
| consumers are still confused about the risks while | | | | unless you happen to like looking like that couple at |
| others do not seem to take the matter seriously. | | | | the refreshment stand. |