In this episode, hosts Don Weinberger and Steve Small throw some serious shade at common sunscreen myths—and yes, Steve may or may not be rocking a fake sunburn.🌞
🧴 Does a higher SPF really mean better protection?
🌤️ Can sunscreen mess with your vitamin D levels?
⚠️ Are sunscreen ingredients secretly harmful?
🕶️ Grab your shades and join our myth-busting duo as they shine a light on the facts about these hot-button sunscreen claims:
- The higher the SPF, the better for most people.
- Sunscreens reduce vitamin D production.
- Sunscreen isn’t as important for people with darker skin tones.
- Sunscreen ingredients are harmful to humans.
- Chemical and mineral sunscreens work the same way.
Whether you’re a sunscreen slatherer or a sprayer, this episode radiates with clinical pearls, practical tips, and plenty of puns to keep your summer skin safe.
TRC Healthcare Editor Hosts:
- Stephen Small, PharmD, BCPS, BCPPS, BCCCP, CNSC
- Don Weinberger, PharmD, PMSP
The clinical resources mentioned during the podcast are part of a subscription to Pharmacist’s Letter, Pharmacy Technician’s Letter, and Prescriber Insights:
- FAQ: Calcium and Vitamin D
- Article: Shed Light on Sunscreen Rumors
- FAQ: Shedding Light on Questions About Sunscreens
- Chart: Drug-Induced Photosensitivity
- Podcast: Clinical Capsules: To Vitamin D or Not to Vitamin D?
Get 10% off a new subscription with code podcast1025 at checkout.
Students: Access a free version of Pharmacist’s Letter.
Got a sunburn horror story or a sunscreen myth you’ve heard? Text us or visit trchealthcare.com/contact-us—we might feature it in the next episode!
Join the National Community Pharmacists Associations’ Annual Convention (NCPA) in New Orleans October 18-21st: https://bit.ly/ncpameeting25
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Transcript:
00:00:05 Narrator
Welcome to Rumor vs Truth, your trusted source for facts… where we dissect the evidence behind risky rumors and reveal clinical truths. Today we’ll shed some light on the facts and rumors about sunscreens!
00:00:22 Don Weinberger
Well, hello. Hello, Steve.
00:00:24 Steve Small
Hello, Don.
00:00:26 Don Weinberger
You are just looking, positively glowing, you know.
00:00:30 Steve Small
Stunning in a bad way. Because I am red as a lobster. And for those folks who can’t see us, I’m wearing a fishing hat with a lovely burn all across my face and sunglasses, which I have to take off.
00:00:46 Don Weinberger
And I am wearing a fairly large hats that’s covering, probably almost most of my screen, some sunglasses and a little bit of a dollop of sunscreen on my nose.
00:00:59 Steve Small
But you’re not red.
00:01:00 Don Weinberger
No, I did it right. This thing blocks like 50 feet all around me so.
00:01:05 Steve Small
Brilliant. And before I move on to, I do have to fess up to our audience. I’m not, I’m not sporting a real burn. I am wearing makeup. I’m sure you were thinking maybe he’s born with it, maybe it’s sun damage.
00:01:16 Don Weinberger
Yeah.
00:01:18 Steve Small
But it’s a great segue into our topic for today, which is sunscreens, and I have to ask you, Don, are you a spray or a slather type of person when it comes to sunscreens?
00:01:27 Don Weinberger
I’m a slather. I will jump in a pool of it.
00:01:29 Steve Small
Yeah, and that’s probably what I should be doing too.
00:01:33 Steve Small
Because when it comes to sun, protection is not a joke.
00:01:36 Steve Small
But honestly, hey folks, I’m Steve the pharmacist and I’m clearly regretting not wearing SPF 30 to this episode. I’m feeling the heat, Don.
00:01:44 Don Weinberger
And I am Don the pharmacist and Steve I gotta say you are glowing like I said, but not in that good way. More like forgot to apply… reapply at the beach…. sat near a nuclear reactor… kind of glowing.
00:01:58 Steve Small
Right. And we’ll talk all about reapplying later.
00:02:01 Don Weinberger
Right, right. And in this episode, before we actually get into it, let me take off this hat, it is way too small for my head and I’ll take out these sunglasses as well.
00:02:12 Don Weinberger
And we’re about to get under your skin, literally, by breaking down what’s fact and what is just sensational fiction. We promise to keep the puns count high in the UV index low.
00:02:22 Steve Small
And we’re about to throw some shade at sunscreen myths and help make sure sunburns don’t make your summer into a third degree bummer, folks.
00:02:30 Steve Small
And this is not just a topic for pharmacists and techs. This topic is good for non-medical folks too, family and friends, so spread the word.
00:02:39 Don Weinberger
Definitely and stick around to the end. We’ll also answer a listener’s question about GLP-1s from our last episode on Retro Rumors.
00:02:47 Don Weinberger
Without further ado, let’s go ahead and dive into that first claim, right?
00:02:50 Don Weinberger
So shine on the rumor that has been going around for a long time and the claim is the higher the SPF the better for most people, that’s something we all know, right? We know the use of sunscreen helps prevent certain skin carcinomas like Melanoma and squamous cell and the like and photoaging, wrinkles.
00:03:09 Don Weinberger
Excuse me to get nerdy for a quick second here UV since ultraviolet we have UVA and UVB rays right? They both been implicated in skin cancer. UVA rays penetrate deeper into the skin and associated with the Melanoma, which is the most serious type of skin cancer associated with aging and wrinkles.
00:03:27 Don Weinberger
UVB rays are responsible for sunburns and the non-Melanoma skin cancer, so SPF which stands for Sun Protection Factor refers to the amount of UVB protection that a product provides but not UVA.
00:03:41 Steve Small
Yeah, that’s a good breakdown that there are different UV rays there, Don, but there’s lots of advertising around sunscreens. You know SPF 30, 40, 50 where does it end?
00:03:50 Steve Small
Are we talking SPF 1,000,000? Can you put a spotlight on those numbers for folks?
00:03:54 Don Weinberger
Definitely can. That’s gonna put those in perspective, right? So, SPF 15 blocks about 93% of UV rays.
00:04:02 Don Weinberger
SPF 30 about 97%, SPF 50 about 98%.
00:04:09 Don Weinberger
So you can see there’s not exactly a doubling or tripling of the percentage of UV blocking the higher SPF you go.
00:04:16 Don Weinberger
And like with UVB, it’s generally accepted that UVA protection increases with higher SPF’s as well.
00:04:23 Don Weinberger
That’s where we recommend broad spectrum that can block both UVA and UVB.
00:04:28 Steve Small
Nice. And what do studies show, though? Does this mean higher SPFs provide better skin cancer protection?
00:04:34 Don Weinberger
Yeah, good question. So marketing right comes down to higher SPF. Am I more protected against certain things?
00:04:40 Don Weinberger
So it’s been shown that there’s not a decrease in skin cancer risk with higher than SPF of 30, for most people.
00:04:48 Steve Small
OK.
00:04:50 Don Weinberger
So, you know, let’s boil down the recommendations then. So what you recommend to people if they ask
00:04:56 Don Weinberger
So, suggest a broad spectrum, like I mentioned, product an SPF of at least 15 to 30 for most people anything higher than SPF 30 doesn’t really provide much more protection, as I outlined earlier.
00:05:09 Steve Small
OK.
00:05:10 Don Weinberger
So, let’s go ahead and go back to that claim, and it is…
00:05:14 Don Weinberger
The higher the SPF, the better for most people… and the verdict is…
00:05:23 Don Weinberger
That is a rumor. So like I said, we’re recommending SPF at least 15 to 30. Anything above 30 for most people is usually not needed.
00:05:31 Steve Small
OK. But with that in mind, since you said most people, what about the others, the some people outside of that?
00:05:39 Don Weinberger
Yep, so good catch on that one. Most people or the some that are out there like you’re saying.
00:05:43 Don Weinberger
So yes, people with a history of skin cancer or who are at high risk for skin cancer, an SPF of 50 is actually recommended.
00:05:53 Don Weinberger
So this is because that extra bump, you know, talking about the percentage wise how there’s not a linear kind of percent increase in protection but that 1% from 30 to 50 can mean the difference in that population subset of skin cancer risk and history of it.
00:06:09 Steve Small
OK. So for those folks go big or go home when it comes with that SPF, that’s that’s really good to know Don.
00:06:13 Don Weinberger
Correct, correct.
00:06:14 Steve Small
And and I’ve probably been applying sunscreen wrong all these years. Clearly.
00:06:20 Steve Small
But are there any risks to blocking out all that sun and our next claim is that sunscreens reduce vitamin D production.
00:06:26 Steve Small
And this is interesting Don because it has been suggested that 5 to 30 minutes of some exposure outside without sunscreen between like the hours of 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM each day, maybe twice a week, is good.
00:06:40 Steve Small
Because doing that for the face, arms, legs or back will generally provide adequate vitamin D producing UV rays cause we make that in our skin.
00:06:48 Steve Small
But studies have shown that using those UVB blocking sunscreens or clothing for example, regularly can reduce vitamin D blood levels by up to 30%.
00:06:59 Steve Small
And hearing that I could see people being like, wow, that’s quite a bit. But before we pick a bone with this, let’s put into perspective here this 30% drop is still probably within acceptable levels for most healthy adults. Those with healthy diets or no kidney disease, right?
00:07:16 Steve Small
And most people, to be honest, don’t apply enough sunscreen anyways. To all exposed skin to block all of those UV rays. So keep that in mind.
00:07:25 Don Weinberger
Right. So that kind of brings up something here, you know, vitamin D and you know, up to 30% reduction in in that drop.
00:07:33 Don Weinberger
To D or not to D right? That is the question.
00:07:37 Don Weinberger
If people want to supplement vitamin D because they feel like they’re not getting enough of those sun’s rays, what’s the advice there?
00:07:42 Steve Small
Yeah, it can depend on a lot of factors and I recommend folks check out our calcium and vitamin D FAQ chart online. It lists recommendations on daily intake depending on patient age and other factors.
00:07:54 Steve Small
And we have a whole episode on this topic with our sister podcast clinical capsules, so folks should definitely check that out.
00:08:01 Steve Small
So when it comes to this claim that sunscreens reduce vitamin D production, the verdict is…
00:08:10 Steve Small
True, but with conditions. Yes, studies show that it can reduce those levels, but it may not be clinically significant for a lot of folks. So keeping that in mind.
00:08:20 Don Weinberger
OK. So Steve, obviously you’re putting sunscreen under your eyes. I’m putting it on my nose. This is not the amount to put on. Right? Right. So how much sunscreen should folks actually be applying to themselves?
00:08:33 Steve Small
Yeah, well, after this burn, I have definitely found out the right amount.
00:08:37 Steve Small
Technically, you should apply at least one ounce, so amount of maybe a shot glass of sunscreen.
00:08:42 Steve Small
Liberally to expose skin about 15 minutes beforehand before going into the sun, and then you also have to reapply every two hours.
00:08:50 Steve Small
I think that’s a a point that a lot of people forget. And you also have to do it after swimming or sweating, depending on the product, since it could wash off.
00:08:58 Steve Small
And also folks don’t forget about your ears. Those burn really easily and many people forget to shade them.
00:09:05 Steve Small
And also Speaking of ears, I want to hear some sunburn horror stories. Let’s make some dermatologist cringe here right into the show, using the send us a text link and we’ll share the best or worst one for the next episode.
00:09:21 Don Weinberger
And please don’t feel… feel obligated to send pictures of it. Descriptions are just fine, right? Yeah.
00:09:28 Don Weinberger
OK. So next move on next claim.
00:09:31 Don Weinberger
You know another patient factor I’ve heard brought up about sunscreen is skin tone and the claim here is…
00:09:39 Don Weinberger
Sunscreen isn’t as important for people with darker skin tone.
00:09:42 Steve Small
Hmm.
00:09:43 Don Weinberger
Now let’s go back to the facts here. Patients with darker skin tones. Yeah, they are more protected against skin damage than lighter skin tones.
00:09:50 Don Weinberger
The reason why that is, is because the melanin that’s in the skin has the ability to absorb UV light before it actually can cause damage to skin cells.
00:10:00 Don Weinberger
This is why we see, you know, skin cancer rates and skin damage are lower in darker toned people than lighter.
00:10:09 Don Weinberger
But you know, this does not mean that they don’t need sunscreen when exposed to UV rays. Actually, there was a study in 2016 that showed that when darker tone people do get skin cancer, the rate of death is actually higher than those with light skinned people.
00:10:24 Don Weinberger
So let’s go back to that claim again, and it is sunscreen isn’t as important for people with darker skin tone, and the verdict is…
00:10:38 Don Weinberger
That is a rumor. Key point… everyone again, everyone needs sunscreen or some kind of sun protection when they’re outside or there’s a melting concentration in their skin.
00:10:49 Steve Small
Yeah, that’s really good to highlight, Don. And when you say that though, I think about how I’ve heard some people with darker tone skin feeling that some sunscreens make their skin look awful. What should they do there then?
00:11:00 Don Weinberger
Yeah. So, in those particular cases, it could be definitely visible on point where they you maybe not even want to put it on, right? Right. So you actually can point these patients to the sheer sunscreens or those are darker tints or shades if patients want to address cosmetic issues with the letter color versions.
00:11:17 Don Weinberger
In fact, you know, I was researching this Steve and I’ve seen some products where the company will match the shade of your skin, send them a picture and they will use some, you know, photo technology to come up with these different color tints like you would go a paint store, right?
00:11:32 Don Weinberger
They’re all paint is just is just a set of numbers of different colors mixed into one kind of can. Same thing with it.
00:11:37 Steve Small
Ohh wow.
00:11:38 Don Weinberger
The sunscreen, I thought was very interesting.
00:11:41 Steve Small
Yeah, that’s cool.
00:11:42 Don Weinberger
Yeah. And some people may ask, like, well, can I just add tint color to my existing sunscreen and I would say no to that one only because if you add kind of foreign chemicals to an alreday existing sunscreen product, it may compromise effectiveness and expiration dates as well.
00:11:58 Steve Small
Yeah, leave it to the professionals, folks and before we get into our next claim, a quick reminder if you’re enjoying this episode and want to access even more clinical Insights.
00:12:06 Steve Small
Check out pharmacist letter, pharmacy technicians letter and prescriber insights.
00:12:11 Steve Small
As a listener, you can get 10% off a new subscription with the podcast code ‘podcast1025’ at checkout.
00:12:20 Steve Small
And that leads to our next claim Don, and it can be quite heated. You may want to reapply it or not because the claim is sunscreen ingredients are harmful to humans. Kind of scary, right?
00:12:31 Steve Small
Well, data have shown that chemicals, sunscreens, things like oxybenzone and avobenzone have been absorbed into the skin and into the bloodstream at low levels.
00:12:42 Steve Small
But before people worry about that, there is no credible link to adverse events with this low level in the bloodstream and more testing is obviously needed before we make any claims like this.
00:12:53 Don Weinberger
Right, right. So you’re saying like, OK?
00:12:57 Don Weinberger
There’s no data showing that has an effect yet, even though it is in the bloodstream, right? You’re going to have patients, maybe even me, maybe in my own family and say, well, I don’t want these chemicals at all in my bloodstream.
00:13:09 Don Weinberger
OK. Yeah. So what do we recommend in these cases?
00:13:11 Steve Small
And that’s a totally fair point. What you can do is guide patients if they want to try natural options, especially if they’re pregnant, for example.
00:13:18 Steve Small
For instance, you could recommend zinc oxide or titanium dioxide based sunscreens or rely on photoprotective clothing that’s darker in color and perhaps a tighter weave.
00:13:28 Steve Small
Things like that. So yeah, there are options there, and when going back to this claim that sunscreen ingredients are harmful to humans, the verdict is…
00:13:42 Steve Small
Rumor, as we saw, even though they can be absorbed in the bloodstream, we don’t have any credible evidence that they lead to adverse effects.
00:13:50 Steve Small
And, you know, one thing that kind of brings up Don is that there has been talk about low levels of benzene, a carcinogen, found in some sunscreens.
00:13:58 Steve Small
I recommend folks listen to our June episode of Rumor vs Truth where we debunk rumors about that and other benzene cases and topical products.
00:14:07 Don Weinberger
Yeah, just to bring up a quick point.
00:14:10 Don Weinberger
Even though sunscreens have shown aren’t toxic necessarily, you know, some medications like your fluoroquinolones and your tetracyclic antibiotics may deposit certain photoreactive chemicals in the skin actually would increases their risk of sunburn.
00:14:27 Don Weinberger
You know, people who have taken doxycycline before they burn very easily and they wonder why. Yeah, that point. Because the reason. So we do have a great resource on this.
00:14:35 Don Weinberger
That ‘Meds that Increase Sunburn Risks.’ So be sure to slap on that sunscreen more in these particular cases.
00:14:41 Steve Small
Absolutely.
00:14:42 Don Weinberger
OK, let’s, let’s go and move on to our last claim here.
00:14:46 Don Weinberger
And speaking of the you know, you didn’t mention the zinc and the titanium screen off sunscreen options, right, Steve. But here’s a claim where the Sun never really seems to set on.
00:14:57 Don Weinberger
And here it is. The claim is chemical and mineral sunscreens work in the same way. Well, let’s go ahead and dissect those, right.
00:15:07 Don Weinberger
So chemical sunscreens use like a synthetic chemical like you mentioned, oxybenzone or oxalate that absorb UV rays, so they don’t cause damage.
00:15:16 Don Weinberger
On the other hand, you look at the mineral sunscreens like you mentioned that contain elements like the zinc or titanium that act like a physical barrier against UV rays, so they don’t absorb they just actually a physical barrier that blocks the UV rays to reflect or scatter them instead of absorbing them.
00:15:32 Don Weinberger
And depending on how they’re formulated, they can achieve the same SPF as chemical sunscreens and you know, going back on that mineral options.
00:15:44 Don Weinberger
Since they’re more natural, inert, they may have less incidences of like stuff like allergic reactions, which actually can happen with chemicals, sunscreens.
00:15:51 Don Weinberger
Another, some advantages of mineral sunscreens actually include things like they work immediately, you know other, so you have to like apply then wait 15-30 minutes before we go out in the sun… minerals work immediately and they could be better for the environments, especially those Oceanic reefs.
00:16:05 Steve Small
Interesting and titanium. It sounds like a suit of armor against the sun, how fancy, but Don, are there any downsides to think about with these mineral based options?
00:16:15 Don Weinberger
Yeah, it may feel like you’re wearing a suit of armor in. In that particular case. So the mineral based options actually tend to be thicker. Yeah, and are not really as water resistant as the chemical ones.
00:16:25 Don Weinberger
And the reason I say the waters because they tend to leave, like, this visible film on your skin that can happen. So kind of warn patients about, you know, the…
00:16:36 Don Weinberger
It’s a little more complex, when it comes to applying these things… to warn them about the issues when choosing those mineral based options.
00:16:44 Don Weinberger
So let’s go ahead and go back to that claim from earlier and it is.
00:16:49 Don Weinberger
Chemical and mineral sunscreens work in the same way… and the verdict is…
00:16:58 Don Weinberger
Rumor chemical sunscreens actually absorb UV rays so they don’t cause damage, while mineral sunscreens act like that barrier to actually reflect or scatter those UV rays.
00:17:09 Steve Small
Nice. And you know, Don, I saw mineral based sunscreen labeled reef safe and anti-aging at the store is that for the coral or for me?
00:17:18 Don Weinberger
And depends who’s aging faster, Steve.
00:17:20 Steve Small
Ohh, OK Don, that was a bit too spicy… Folks, I just got burned by Don here.
00:17:24 Don Weinberger
Yeah, you don’t need burned anymore. You’re at the max level of it.
00:17:27 Steve Small
True insult to injury.
00:17:31 Don Weinberger
But you bring up an important point. So some products will do, say, reef safe, but that is not really a standard term.
00:17:38 Don Weinberger
So be sure to rely on what products ingredient list and not its marketing to see its affecting the environment.
00:17:43 Steve Small
Yeah. And I think it leads us to our bottom line truth here, folks. Always think about sun safety in general use a broad spectrum sunscreen with at least an SPF of 15 to 30.
00:17:53 Steve Small
And like we said earlier, slather it on generously and often because when it comes to sun protection, you don’t want to be left high and dry with your skin in the sun’s spotlight.
00:18:03 Steve Small
We all have skin in the game when it comes to us, right?
00:18:08 Don Weinberger
Thank you, Steve.
00:18:08 Don Weinberger
And it looks like rumors actually shone brightly today, so it seemed that there’s a ton of rumors out there about sunscreens which mean healthcare providers, especially pharmacists, technicians, might see a lot of questions in our in great position this summer to help patients find some truths like we did today.
00:18:24 Steve Small
Totally agree. And if you do find yourself bombarded with patient questions about sunscreen, this episode only scratched the surface of what we cover on the topic.
00:18:34 Steve Small
So if you enjoyed our discussion, you’ll love the additional resources we’ve linked in the show notes don’t miss the article on sunscreens in the July 2025 issue of Pharmacist’s Letter, Pharmacy Technician’s Letter, and Prescriber Insights, along with the clinical resource ‘Shedding Light on Questions About Sunscreens.’
00:18:52 Don Weinberger
Yeah, these are exclusive to our subscribers, so make sure you sign up and unlock the treasure trove of valuable information.
00:18:59 Don Weinberger
OK, so I did promise everybody that we would kind of revisit the GLP-1 question from last episode from our 40th anniversary so.
00:19:07 Don Weinberger
The audience question from that last episode is.
00:19:10 Don Weinberger
When you mentioned GLP-1 agonists are now approved for weight loss. You know, do patients need to take these meds for the rest of their lives to maintain their weight? This is a great question. Hear this all the time.
00:19:21 Steve Small
I agree, and you know I would say this depends. Since obesity and its complications can depend on many factors.
00:19:28 Steve Small
And obesity can be seen as a chronic medical condition, right? But in general, GLP-1s should be seeing, I would say as a long term Med until we have more evidence. For example, studies we found suggest that patients often regain about half of the weight loss within a year of stopping these meds and…
00:19:49 Steve Small
These also should be combined with lifestyle changes, things like diet and exercise, which might help keep weight off in some cases, but possibly not all patients. And I would say it really all comes down to tailoring to the patient’s needs.
00:20:02 Steve Small
That’s one option I can think of. Perhaps after a patient gets their goal weight is to taper the GLP-1 slowly. Or you could even consider stopping the Med and maybe adding it back for a few months later if the patient starts to regain weight again. So a lot of good thoughts here.
00:20:18 Steve Small
And if you’d like to have your question about this episode answered next month, send us a message.
00:20:24 Don Weinberger
We also use your suggestions to plan our episodes, send us your ideas for rumors and truth to analyze at trchealthcare.com/contact-us.
00:20:33 Don Weinberger
Or use the contact us link at the bottom of your TRC healthcare homepage or send us a text right from the podcast show notes.
00:20:41 Steve Small
Yeah, we’d love to hear from you from you and a couple more things here before we go. Have fun in the sun.
00:20:47 Don Weinberger
Not you, Steve. Stay out of the sun forever. But if you, if you liked what you heard on this episode, be sure to follow rate and review rumor versus truth wherever you get your podcasts. And of course, check us out at TRChealthcare.com.
00:21:00 Don Weinberger
You can help also grow our show by telling your friend about the awesome things you’ve learned about and where you found us.
00:21:07 Steve Small
Yeah. And as a listener to our show, you have access to a special 10% discount on a new subscription. Again, just use the code podcast1025. When you check out. And if you’re a student. Even better, students can access a free version.
00:21:21 Steve Small
Of Pharmacist’s letter we’ve got links in the show notes that take you directly to the right places to take advantage of these awesome deals. So go check them out.
00:21:29 Don Weinberger
And join us next time we’ll discuss acne products.
00:21:33 Don Weinberger
We love for you to pop on in when it comes out.
00:21:35 Steve Small
That’s really gross, Don. Thanks for joining us on rumor versus truth. Your trusted source for facts, where we dissect the evidence behind risky rumors and reveal clinical truths. See you next time.
Rumor vs Truth
