Lifestyle
Don't skimp on the sunscreen this weekend
By LEE BOWMAN
Here's another good reason to keep slathering on the sunscreen: If you don't, some of its filtering ingredients can break down into compounds that actually cause more damage to the skin, according to a new study.
Scientists at the University of California-Riverside, found that three ingredients widely used in sunscreens to filter ultraviolet radiation generate harmful compounds called reactive oxygen species when exposed to UV radiation in lower layers of skin.
Those reactive molecules can cause oxidative damage to cell walls, lipid membranes and genetic material inside skin cells, leading to skin damage and increasing the visible signs of aging.
Exposing unprotected skin to sunlight also generates the reactive molecules, the researchers note, but in fewer numbers than when the sunscreen chemicals are present below the outermost layer of skin.
However, the researchers note that the additional reactive molecules are generated only when the UV filters have penetrated deeply and when sunscreen has not been reapplied to prevent UV radiation from reaching the absorbed filtering chemicals.
"Sunscreens do an excellent job protecting against sunburn when used correctly," said Kerry Hanson, a senior research scientist in the chemistry department at UC-Riverside and lead author of the research, which was released online Monday by the journal Free Radical Biology and Medicine.
"This means using a sunscreen with a high sun protection factor and applying it uniformly on the skin.
Making educational data meaningful and usable
By ELEANOR CHUTE
Across America, educators, parents and students are swimming in an overload of data, much of which seems unrelated and difficult to use.
Over the past decade, education based on academic standards has become the norm.
Dishes that will make your tabletop sparkle
By MARY CAROL GARRITY
Q: I'd like to get a new set of dishes, but I'm completely overwhelmed by all the styles available. What type of dishware do you suggest?
A: When you were a kid, do you remember begging your parents to keep the skinny stray cat that followed you home from school? That was our daughter Kelly.
