Sunburn is incredibly common within Australia. Each weekend, as many as 330,000 people experience sunburn, which is directly associated with the increased risk of skin cancer we experience in Australia. This means, every weekend, as many people as constitute the population of our nation's capital experience potential to contract life-threatening illness. Despite the simplicity of preventative measures against sunburn, people continue to spend time outdoors in the hottest part of the day, and avoid the use of sunscreen.
Sunscreen technology has come a long way in the past decade, perhaps the most recent development of which being SolarD. This product is marketed as a 'world first' and focuses on blocking all the sun's harmful rays whilst not blocking the beneficial sun exposure that positively contributes to vitamin D.
However, the most important component of sunscreen is not to enable the body access to beneficial qualities of the sun. In fact, it could be argued that this is the least important quality of sunscreen. Preventing UV rays is the most important role of these products. There are two types of sunscreen; chemical and physical. Chemical sunscreens reflect the sun, while physical sunscreens aim to absorb the harmful rays before they come into contact with your skin. While chemical sunscreens are widely available for sale in Australia, there is some concern by interest groups due to the fact the scientific functionality of these products and how they affect the human body is not entirely known. Physical sunscreens containing zinc and titanium oxides are purported as the safest option available to Australian citizens.
