WHITEMAN: How do you get a public health strategy that is effective but targeted? And that's new territory for all of us. And so we're trying to work out how you do that in a modern society. It's proving to be a challenge.
PARADIS: What they've done is create three skin-type categories, and the advice is different for each. So people with the fairest skin types - skin that burns easily and rarely, if ever, tans? Sunscreen should be a part of the morning routine whenever the UV forecast is 3 or above, which, as a point of reference, is an average early-spring day in New England. Meanwhile, the people with the darkest skin types - so deep brown or Black skin, which rarely, if ever, burns - quote, "routine sunscreen application is not needed." And, quote, "sun protection may be needed if outdoors for extended periods when the UV is 3 or above."
RASCOE: I mean, that sounds like there's some measured language in there. So what about in the U.S.?
PARADIS: Honestly, the debate seems pretty unsettled in the U.S. You could ask, basically, what's the harm in being cautious and just giving that blanket advice?
SUSAN TAYLOR: I think you can't go wrong with that.
PARADIS: That's Susan Taylor, professor of dermatology at the University of Pennsylvania and founder of the Skin of Color Society. She stands behind the blanket sunscreen advice for people of color, arguing that sunscreen still protects against issues like hyperpigmentation and sunburn. And she also argues it protects against other nonmelanoma types of cancer, although other experts did tell me that association remains unclear in skin of color.
TAYLOR: We've had conversations in the skin of color society. We've had advisory groups, right? And where we've landed is that people of color should still use sunscreen.
PARADIS: But dermatologist Ade Adamson - he chafes at what he calls a maximalist approach.
ADAMSON: I think that people need honesty. I think that there needs to be voices out there that are just telling the facts as it is and allowing people to interpret those facts.
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RASCOE: Honestly, it feels like these questions go way beyond sunscreen.
PARADIS: Yeah. Absolutely.
RASCOE: So what do we take from this? Like, it does seem a bit unsatisfying.
PARADIS: Yeah. I agree. I think that for me, this reporting has left me both more impressed with sunscreen as this technical material and an understanding that sunscreen is imperfect. It has limitations. And that is why in public health in Australia and in the U.S., the message is often something like this.
WHITEMAN: Sunscreen is one component of a sun protection strategy. It's never our first line of defense. Sunscreen's always the last line of defense.
PARADIS: Before you even get to the sunscreen, there are lots of other things people should do first to minimize risk, like avoiding peak hours of the day when the UV is at its most intense, wearing hats, staying in the shade.
RASCOE: So bust out that parasol.
PARADIS: Totally, if you want to get stylish with it. And wherever the science ends up heading in the coming years, I'm not sure that basic advice will change.
RASCOE: Well, Justine, thank you so much for coming on and breaking down the science of sunscreen.
PARADIS: It's my pleasure. Thank you for having me. It's been really fun.
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RASCOE: That was Justine Paradis, a producer with Outside/In from New Hampshire Public Radio. You can find more from that show wherever you get your podcasts.
This episode was produced by Ben Rappaport and edited by Jenny Schmidt. It was fact-checked by Greta Pittenger. The engineer was Robert Rodriguez. The rest of The Sunday Story team includes Sharon Mashihi and Andrew Mambo. Our supervising senior producer is Liana Simstrom, and our executive producer is Irene Noguchi.
I'm Ayesha Rascoe. UP FIRST will be back tomorrow with all the news you need to start your week. Until then, have a great rest of your weekend.
