Sun Protection Alert Misses the Mark on SunSmart

Sun Protection Alert Misses the Mark on SunSmart

The Indoor Tanning Association NZ Inc (INTANZ) applauds a move by the Health Sponsorship Council (HSC) to improve public education on excessive ultraviolet radiation (UVR), but says a crucial step has been missed in their new strategy.

The HSC has this month launched the ‘Sun Protection Alert’ to replace the old ‘UV Index’, a tool designed to help Kiwis understand when they need to step up protection for their skin in summer sunlight, adjusted for their location.

But Tiffany Brown, spokesperson for INTANZ, thinks the new tool is unlikely to be an improvement on the last, because it does not account for the differences in peoples’ skin types.

“We live in an extremely multi-cultural society these days; skin colours vary all the way through the Fitzpatrick spectrum from the palest skin type I to the dark black skin of a type VI (6). This is crucial because every skin type needs a different prescription, regardless of where you happen to be in the country.”

The Fitzpatrick skin typing tool is used by dermatologists and sunbed operators to determine an individual’s sensitivity to UVR. Brown says without knowing your own skin type, the Sun Protection Alert is “meaningless”. A person with the darkest skin type needs up to six times more UV exposure to make essential vitamin D than someone with very pale skin- who is at the highest risk of sun-burning and subsequently the highest risk of skin cancer.

The Cancer Society advises that people with very dark skin (type 5 or 6) may never need to use sunscreen- in fact they may be in need of vitamin D supplementation to ward of vitamin D deficiency.

Vitamin D is made in the body in response to exposure to UV light from the sun or from sunbeds, and is essential for bone health. The vitamin- actually a pre-hormone- has been exciting scientists and researchers for several decades, as it appears to be implicated in the pathology of numerous health conditions, ranging from breast, prostate and colon cancers, heart disease, and diabetes through to depression and autism.

“Health authorities in this country are faced with an enormous task,” explains Brown, “After years of pervasive sun avoidance messages, it is now clear people are at risk of failing to receive appropriate exposure to UV light for their vitamin D requirement. Vitamin D deficiency is poised to be a huge problem for many sections of our society, including youngsters and the elderly.”

It is suggested that skin cancer is significantly correlated with excessive sun exposure and this has prompted health authorities to campaign for a reduction in UVR exposure- in expectation of a reduction in skin cancer incidence and mortality. But measurement and results have been mostly conflicting. Over the decade from 1998 to 2008, New Zealand’s age-standardised mortality rates for melanoma- the most dangerous form of skin cancer- fell for women from 4.0 people per 100,000 of population to 3.2 people per 100,000 of population. Over the same period, the rates rose for men, from 6.6 to 7.2.

Brown says UV light advocates have been making this point for some time. “Like the confusion that exists around skin types and outdoor exposure, equally there is a great deal of confusion about who is actually at risk for melanoma skin cancer in New Zealand. Men have a much higher risk- a fact which is overlooked when anti-sunbed campaigners make their case for protecting women.”

A recent Ministry of Health survey found just 5% of men used a sunbed. “Men are rare users of indoor tanning equipment, but they are most at risk. The fact that there is no corresponding increase in female melanoma mortality during the period that sunbed tanning was gaining popularity is completely ignored.”

Another recent study from the University of Otago found people over the age of 60 tend to believe their melanoma risk is lower than younger people, despite the opposite being true. In 2008, nearly 60% of melanoma registrations were attributed to people aged over 60.

INTANZ professional salon members see first-hand just how pervasive is the public’s confusion over UV exposure. Brown says the responsibility of enforcing sunbed protections is taken seriously, but the group is worried about people’s understanding of how to balance their exposure outdoors.

“With a rainbow of skin colours in our society today- each particular skin type needing a different level of exposure vs. avoidance, how can a UV measuring tool like the Sun Protection Alert, which makes no allowance for these differences possibly work for everyone?”

ENDS