Survey exposes a lack of care in search for a tan

IRISH people are becoming more careless about exposure to the sun, according to a survey conducted for Unistat sunscreen which was published yesterday.

Last year, the number who did nothing to protect themselves doubled, to 22 per cent.

The survey found that just 6 per cent of the population limit the amount of time they spend in the sun, with 14 per cent covering up with clothing. Only 8 per cent stay out of direct sunlight.

Mr Gerald Fleming, a meteorologist, said people in Ireland underestimate the strength of the sun.

"The longest that unprotected skin can be exposed when the sunburn index is high is 45 minutes and 60 to 65 minutes when it is medium," he said. Even when the sunburn index is low it is recommended that skin should not be exposed beyond 90 minutes.

However, the survey revealed that 72 per cent of Irish people stay in the sun for over two hours, with one in 10 staying out for more than five hours.

Mr Fleming pointed out that due to the depletion of the ozone layer in the northern hemisphere, the sun in Ireland had become more intense. "It is at its strongest now, during the early summer, when the ozone layer is at its thinnest, leaving it with even more burning power than the sun on a warmer day in July or August."

He said the sun in Ireland can, on occasions, "reach a burning intensity comparable with that of the Mediterranean".

Still, only a third of Irish people avoid the midday sun on a summer's day. He recommended we adopt the Australian "slip, slap, slop," method. "Slip on a T shirt, slap on a hat, and slop on some suncream.

Dublin people were found to be a bit more cautious, with 65 per cent inclined to wear a sunscreen, compared with the 55 per cent outside the capital.

It also revealed that 84 per cent of the people in Munster liked to sunbathe, compared to 69 per cent for the rest of the State, while people in Connacht/Ulster are more likely to stay in the sun for over five hours.

Generally, the hours of sunshine in Ireland range from 1,100 a year in parts of Kerry and the north west, to a high of 1,800 hours in the sunny south east. During May, June and July, the daily quota of sun is about six to seven hours.

Dr Anne Marie McMahon, a psychologist with the St John of God's Hospital in Dublin, pointed out that 84 per cent of Irish people are aware of the dangers of the sun. People tended to dwell on the feel good short term effects of sunshine and acquiring a tan, she said. But, she added, in the long term "the sun can turn our faces into a kind of crocodile handbag look, with cancerous patches and old before our time".