Letter

More on preventing skin cancer

BMJ 2003; 327 doi: 10.1136/bmj.327.7425.1228-a (Published 20 November 2003)
Cite this as: BMJ 2003;327:1228.2

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Sun avoidance will increase incidence of cancers overall

  1. Cedric F Garland (cgarland@ucsd.edu), professor
  1. University of California at San Diego, School of Medicine, 9500 Gilman Drive, La Jolla, CA 92093-0631, USA

    EDITOR—Fry and Verne in their editorial concluded that sunscreens may create a false sense of security and encourage over-exposure to the sun.1 2 Sunscreens should not be relied on to prevent melanoma. Typical sunscreens only weakly absorb ultraviolet A light, which is 97% of ultraviolet radiation and is nearly as carcinogenic as ultraviolet B light. The typical protection factor for ultraviolet A is …

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