Science & Technology: Lifetime UVR Exposure (80 Percent Of Lifetime UVR Exposure Does Not Happen By Age 18)

The false, deceptive and misleading statement that “80 percent of lifetime UVR exposure happens by the age of 18” has been used so many times by members of the dermatology community over the past two decades that the majority of the American public believes it is true. However, it is not—and never has been. The dermatology community continues to use this statement even though they know, or reasonably ought to know, that it is false because it supports their national campaign to ban teenagers from indoor tanning salons. It is obvious that their counterproductive anti-tanning agenda is more important to them than telling the public the truth.

So, where did this statement come from? In May 1986 an article by R.S. Stern et al., titled “Risk Reduction For Non-Melanoma Skin Cancer With Childhood Sunscreen Use,” was published in the Archives of Dermatology. In this article, the authors stated, “Using a mathematical model based on epidemiologic data, we quantified the potential benefits of using a sunscreen with a sun protection factor of 15 and estimate that regular use of such a sunscreen during the first 18 years of life would reduce the lifetime incidence of these tumors by 78 percent.”

It was never stated in this article that 80 percent of lifetime UVR exposure comes in the first 18 years of life; rather, what Stern and the others really said was that if you use a sunscreen with SPF 15 during the first 18 years of life, you might reduce your lifetime risk of developing a non-melanoma skin cancer (basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma) by 78 percent.

Since that initial misinterpretation, there have been instances in which the statement has been shown to be false.

1. A paper by Dianne Godar, Fredrick Urbach, Francis Gasparro and Jan van der Leun, titled “Childhood UV Doses: Reality Versus Myth,” was presented on July 16, 2002 at the American Society of Photobiology meeting in Quebec City, Canada, by Diane Godar, Ph.D., of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). The abstract stated that, since 1986, people were told they receive approximately 80 percent of their lifetime UV dose by the age of 18. This myth originated from a paper that concluded diligent use of sunscreen (SPF 15 or higher) during the first 18 years of life could reduce the lifetime incidence of non-melanoma skin cancers by 78 percent. This conclusion, combined with the fact that squamous cell carcinoma is dependent on a cumulative dose, mistakenly led others to believe that people get about 80 percent of their lifetime UV dose by the age of 18. However, analysis of actual exposure data shows that people get less than 25 percent of their lifetime dose by the age of 18.”

2. A paper by Elisabeth Thieden et al., titled “Proportion Of Lifetime UV Dose Received By Children, Teenagers And Adults Based On Time-Stamped Personal Dosimetry,” was published in the Journal of Investigative Dermatology. It clearly and unambiguously stated that “only 25 percent of the lifetime UV dose was received before age 20 and the annual UV dose was thus independent of age.”

3. We wrote a letter to Health Canada on Aug. 28, 2002, informing them of the Godar article and requesting that the statement “80 percent of lifetime UVR exposure happens by the age of 18” be removed from all documents published by Health Canada. We received the following response: Please be aware that all mentions to the 80-percent value will be removed from our federal government documents. This statement was based on a misinterpretation of data. (Signed P. Reinhardt.)

Despite the fact that the misinterpretation has been pointed out, the dermatology community continues to make this false, deceptive and misleading statement. Dermatologists seem to have lost sight of the fact that they have an ethical, moral and professional responsibility to check the veracity of statements like this one before using them because, after all, it is their duty to “first do no harm” to their patients and the public. The continued use of this statement over the past two decades intimates that they care more about their counterproductive anti-tanning agenda than they do about the health and wellbeing of the American public. In particular, their efforts to get teenagers banned from tanning in several states has potentially damaged the health of these young Americans—between 50 percent and 90 percent of teenagers are vitamin D deficient/insufficient—who lack the ability to make their voices heard in the voting booth.

We hope that the dermatology community will find the courage to admit publicly that they have been misleading the American public for the past two decades and the integrity to stop making the false, deceptive and misleading statement that “80 percent of lifetime UVR exposure happens by the age of 18” in future articles.

Patricia E. Reykdal owns and operates four tanning salons in Tucson, Ariz. Her husband, Donald L. Smith, is director of research of the Non-Ionizing Radiation Research Institute. Together, they have written more than 250 articles promoting sensible, moderate and responsible exposure to ultraviolet radiation. You can e-mail comments or questions to reyksmith@aol.com.