Health: does a tan protect you from the sun?

Self-tutoring about summer health concerns: the tutor wonders about an age-old belief.

When I was a kid, it was related to me that once a person had a tan, they were safe from sunburn. It seemed to be true: one might get a sunburn during the first sunny weekend of late spring, but then not again. It would change to a tan, and then wouldn’t burn again – or so it seemed.

I still live that way: I make a point of getting sun early in the season to build up a base tan, then don’t worry too much about burning after that. Yet, according to the FDA, I might be mistaken.

The FDA points out that, while a typical tan might give spf of 2 to 4, minimum spf 15 is recommended.

Source:

fda.gov