Why sunscreen is still the best protection against skin cancer, which types to use and how, and the importance of SPF
- There is nothing more important for preventing skin cancer than applying sunscreen, and new research about how melanin in our bodies works could make it better
- Nearly all cases of melanoma, the deadliest skin cancer, are preventable. Experts explain how to choose the right sunscreen, and other precautions to take
Humans have a kind of natural sunscreen, the pigment known as melanin that gives us our skin, eye and hair colour. It is the body’s first and best natural defence against the sun’s harmful rays.
Nearly all living organisms have melanin. In humans it is able to absorb ultraviolet (UV) light, and transform the energy of this light into heat.
Jean-Philip Lumb, an associate professor in chemistry at McGill University in Canada, has just published a study with new discoveries on melanin’s structure.
“Our DNA is extremely sensitive towards UV light, and when it absorbs this light energy, it causes damage that can lead to cancer (melanoma is one example). Melanin decreases the amount of light that can penetrate to our DNA and cause this kind of damage,” he says.
A better understanding of how melanin works and what it is made of could have a dramatic impact on the way the cosmetics industry approaches sunscreen development, Lumb says.