CBS News
American sunscreen options are limited compared to other countries. Here’s why.
You may be ready for the start of summer, but is your sunscreen?
Compared with other parts of the world, American sunscreen selections are limited due to a law from nearly a century ago that may be blocking the best lotions from your beach bag, CBS News’s Manuel Bojorquez reported for “Evening News.”
The 1938 U.S. law classifies sunscreen as a drug and requires animal testing rather than as a cosmetic like parts of Europe and Asia do — this keeps foreign brands off U.S. shelves and limits sunscreen makers.
On average, U.S. sunscreens don’t protect as well from skin-cancer-causing UVA rays, according to the Environmental Working Group. One of the group’s studies found only 35% of the U.S. sunscreens tested are strong enough to meet EU standards.
Why does this matter? Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the country — but also one of the most preventable.
“Almost everybody has been affected by skin cancer. One in five Americans have skin cancer,” said Dr. Robert Kirsner, a dermatologist with the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of Miami. “We’d really like to get some of those European sunscreens to the United States, because it’ll give us greater opportunity, greater options for our patients.”
In a statement to CBS News, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration said it “must balance the public health benefits of access to a broader range of sunscreen active ingredients against the importance of ensuring that the sunscreens Americans use are safe for regular lifelong use.”
Regardless of what’s available now, experts say the important thing is to use what you have.
Kirschner said the sunscreens currently allowed in the United States are still considered safe and effective as long as they are used properly.
The American Cancer Society recommends using a broad spectrum sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher. You should be wearing this level of sunscreen every day, even on cloudy days, according to the American Academy of Dermatology.
“Apply enough sunscreen to cover all skin not covered by clothing. Most adults need about 1 ounce — or enough to fill a shot glass — to fully cover their body,” according to the American Academy of Dermatology’s website, which notes not to forget the tops of your feet, neck, ears and head. “When outdoors, reapply sunscreen every two hours, or after swimming or sweating.”
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Wisconsin school shooter was in contact with California man plotting his own attack, court documents say
The shooter who killed a student and teacher at a religious school in Wisconsin brought two guns to the school and was in contact with a man in California whom authorities say was planning to attack a government building, according to authorities and court documents that became public Wednesday.
Police were still investigating why the 15-year-old student at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison shot and killed a fellow student and teacher on Monday before shooting herself, Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes told the Associated Press Wednesday. Two other students who were shot remained in critical condition on Wednesday.
A Southern California judge issued a restraining order Tuesday under California’s gun red flag law against a 20-year-old Carlsbad man. The order requires the man to turn his guns and ammunition into police within 48 hours unless an officer asks for them sooner because he poses an immediate danger to himself and others.
Carlsbad is located just north of San Diego.
According to the order, the man told FBI agents that he had been messaging Natalie Rupnow, the Wisconsin shooter, about attacking a government building with a gun and explosives. The order doesn’t say what building he had targeted or when he planned to launch his attack. It also doesn’t detail his interactions with Rupnow except to state that the man was plotting a mass shooting with her.
CBS’ San Diego affiliate KFMB-TV reported that law enforcement searched the man’s home Tuesday night after the order was signed by the judge.
Police, with the assistance of the FBI, were scouring online records and other resources and speaking with the shooter’s parents and classmates in an attempt to determine a motive for the shooting, Barnes told the AP.
Police don’t know if anyone was targeted in the attack or if the attack had been planned in advance, the chief said. Police said the shooting occurred in a classroom where a study hall was taking place involving students from several grades.
“I do not know if if she planned it that day or if she planned it a week prior,” Barnes said. “To me, bringing a gun to school to hurt people is planning. And so we don’t know what the premeditation is.”
On a Madison city website providing details about the shooting, police disclosed Wednesday that two guns were found at the school, but only one was used in the shooting. A law enforcement source previously told CBS News the weapon used appears to have been a 9 mm pistol.
Barnes told the AP that he did not know how the suspected shooter obtained the guns and he declined to say who purchased them, citing the ongoing investigation.
No decisions have been made about whether Rupnow’s parents might be charged in relation to the shooting, but they have been cooperating, Barnes told the AP.
Abundant Life is a nondenominational Christian school that offers prekindergarten classes through high school. About 420 students attend the institution.
The Dan County Medical Examiner’s Office identified the two people killed Wednesday as 42-year-old Erin West and 14-year-old Rubi Vergara.
An online obituary on a local funeral site stated Vergara was a freshman who leaves behind her parents, one brother, and a large extended family. It described her as “an avid reader” who “loved art, singing and playing keyboard in the family worship band.”
West’s exact position with the school was unclear.
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