Use caution this summer against UVA and UVB rays

I am a California girl. OK, it’s been almost 35 years since I lived there, but I still answer to the call of Gidget and the Beach Boys, and wonder exactly why it is that I never learned to surf. My friends and I whiled away as many teenage summer days as we could playing in the Santa Monica sun and surf.

Sunscreen? No way. We basted ourselves in baby oil. We lived for the beach and the sun and the tan. How could anything that felt so good be bad for us?

Now we know about the wrinkles, the relatively easygoing skin cancers — squamous cell and basal cell — and the potential killer, malignant melanoma. In the United States, the incidence of malignant melanoma has more than tripled in the white population over the last 20 years.

Like all cancers, malignant melanoma is a case of cells running amok, ignoring all the rules of good behavior. In this case, the cells are the melanocytes, the ones that produce pigment in our skin. If caught early, before the abnormal cells spread beyond the skin, melanoma can be cured. Once the cells spread, however, this cancer can be a killer.

We know there is a connection between sun and skin cancer. More specifically, the connection is ultraviolet radiation that comes from the sun in two forms: UVA and UVB. Both cause the formation of free radicals that can damage the genetic material in skin cells. When this damage outruns the cell’s ability to repair it, cancer can result. The ozone layer that surrounds the earth absorbs UV radiation, but as this layer has begun to deteriorate, more UV light is reaching us here on Earth’s surface. The increase in cases of melanoma has paralleled the deterioration of the ozone layer.

Attention was first placed to UVB light, because UVB causes sunburn. A history of blistering sunburn, particularly as a child, increases the risk of melanoma.

Sunscreens were developed to block UVB light, and indeed, squamous cell cancers and premature skin aging decreased with their use, but not melanoma.

Attention is now focusing on UVA light, which causes its damage deeper in the skin where the melanocytes live. It is likely that both UVA and UVB rays play a role.

Sunscreens that delay sunburns may paradoxically increase the risk of melanoma by allowing us to stay in the sun longer.

So what’s a California girl to do?

Stay out of the sun. May the sun gods forgive me, but this is the holy grail of skin cancer prevention.

The worst time is between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m., when the sun pours down 80 percent of its UV dose.

Adopt the habits of locals who live in those sunny, hot climates. Go indoors and take a siesta.

Stay away from tanning beds. Most beds are heavy on the UVA radiation, and many experts believe that a half-hour on a tanning bed may be as dangerous as a full day in the sun.

Furthermore, the tan you get may allow you to stay in the sun longer without burning (UVB), thus increasing UVA exposure.

Use sunscreen. Look for the sunscreen that blocks both UVA and UVB.

Use moisturizer with sunscreen daily. (Yes, this applies to men as well.)

Liberally apply sunscreen 15 to 30 minutes before going outdoors. Reapply every two hours and after exercise or swimming.

Use waterproof sunscreen even if you don’t plan to be in the water. Slather the stuff on; most of us don’t use enough.

Don’t forget your ears and feet.

Wear sun protective clothing. Tightly woven cloth works best.

Wear hats with wide brims. Everyone over age 1 should wear sunglasses that block both UVA and UVB.

I still love the beach. But now I’m the one in the shade, reading a book and letting the breezes instead of the sun wash over me.

Only mad dogs and Englishmen, but not this California girl, go out in the midday sun.