Yeah, about that sunscreen…

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…it might not be as effective as you think.

The Bee Gees were topping the charts with “Saturday Night Fever,” the first test-tube baby had just been born and gas cost 63 cents a gallon when the Food and Drug Administration began writing regulations for sunscreens.

Thirty-two years later, the agency has yet to issue its final regulations.

That means sunscreen manufacturers are not legally required to prove that their products meet advertising claims such as “waterproof,” “broad-based” or “lasts all day,” or that they offer a specific sun-protection factor, or SPF.

via After more than 30 years, FDA has yet to issue final regulations for sunscreens.

That’s great news for someone like me who has been relying on sunscreen for the past 20+ years so I can enjoy my usual outdoor activities.  For all I know I could have been slathering on expensive moisturizer.

On the other hand, a brief review of the medical literature seems to suggest that most sunscreen failures are more operator-dependent than product-dependent, so even with the strictest FDA regulations on sunscreens we are still our own worst enemies.  And anyway, while sunscreens (properly used) help reduce squamous-cell and basal-cell carcinomas, they don’t seem to have as much of an impact on the development of the more worrisome melanomas.

Fortunately, they also make sun-blocking clothing, although now that I think about it, I’ll bet no one’s making these manufacturers prove their products work, either.  Do they have an FDA equivalent for clothing?

Maybe I’d be better off with a parasol and a dermatology appointment.