Nonprofit Profile | A Reminder to Enjoy the Sunshine … Moderately
Today is the summer solstice in the Northern Hemisphere, the day when the sun’s rays reach us most directly, giving us the year’s longest period of daylight.
That means it’s also a great day to remember that too much daylight — well, too much sunlight — can be harmful without the proper protection. As the Skin Cancer Foundation notes,
- Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States. More than one million skin cancers are diagnosed annually.
- One in five Americans will develop skin cancer in the course of a lifetime.
- In 2004, the total direct cost associated with the treatment for non-melanoma skin cancers was more than $1 billion.
- About 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
- Up to 90 percent of the visible changes commonly attributed to aging are caused by the sun.
The foundation’s mission is “to decrease the incidence of the disease by means of public and professional education, medical training, and research.” It says it is “the only international organization devoted solely to combating the world’s most common cancer, now occurring at epidemic levels.” The fact that the foundation has been around since only 1979 shows how recently medical science came to realize the dangers of excessive sunlight, but we’ve caught up a lot since then. (See here, for example.)
So do enjoy today. Get outside and be active. But by all means, bump up that SPF, okay? | 501(c)
