I, like so many teenage girls who lived in the 50s through the 60s, welcomed our rich bronze skin tans as a sign of a healthy glow. Indeed, we lathered our skins with a baby oil and iodine mixture aided with the use of a tin foil plate placed under our chins to gather even stronger sun rays reflected onto our faces! The 1960 movie, “Where the Boys Are,” along with teen stars Frankie Darren, Annette Funicello and Sandra Dee, beckoned us to continue this habit from April through September yearly. Is it any wonder then that so many of our age group contemporaries now are found to have skin cancers that need to be removed from their bodies?
Today the burgeoning business of being treated by skin doctors (dermatologists) is, indeed, the result of the cumulative damage done to us throughout the years by the sun’s UV rays. Physicians search for basal cell (the most common type), squamous cell (which can still metastasize but in very small percentages), or the most dangerous melanoma cancer. When the UV index is very high, these medical people recommend the use of a SPF 50 formulation sunscreen product, amongst others, which absorbs 98 percent of the incoming UVB light. The additional wearing of hats, sunglasses, long clothes, and umbrellas are also definitely suggested.
But let’s not forget that the sun, our giant nuclear reactor, does provide us with the heat and light that are essential to all life here on earth. CREATING CHEMISTRY, BASF’s Sustainability Magazine (Issue 10, 2021), explains the following constructive ways the sun does help all of mankind: “Its rays …help our bodies make vitamin D, which in turn helps us absorb calcium and phosphate from our diet – minerals that are important for healthy bones, skin and muscles. It boosts our immune systems and releases mood-enhancing serotonin.” But this science magazine adds “too much exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) radiation is detrimental to everything on Earth – humans, animals, plants, and objects.” Redness is the body’s warning that damage has occurred in the skin cells. Adding to this statement is the universal opinion of dermatologists who say “there is no such thing as a “healthy” tan. Tanned skin is damaged skin.” UVB are the 5% of the sun’s rays that penetrate only into the outer layer/epidermis of the skin. UVA rays consists of 95% of the sun’s rays and can penetrate far deeper into the skin. Both kinds of UV radiation, however, can cause skin cancer.
The skin of animals also needs a natural protection from the sun’s radiation. Here are a few interesting examples:
1. A chemical, called gadusol, protects the zebrafish and shrimp and sea urchins’ eggs. Reptiles, birds, and amphibians are also thought to be able to produce the chemical.
2. Researchers have found that fin whales have high levels of melanin, a skin pigment that provides darker skinned people with UV protection. The blue whale, with lesser melanin, is more prone to sun-related damage.
3. Hippopotami secrete a thick, gelatinous reddish orange “sweat” that acts as a natural sunscreen.
4. Elephants coat themselves with mud that, upon drying, becomes thick and a strong protective barrier against the sun’s rays.
5. The giraffe’s long exterior end of his purple or almost black colored tongue is due to its high levels of melanin here that offer the animal sun protection as it searches for food. The interior part of the tongue is much pinker.
