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How Does SPF Actually Work, Anyway?

And what's all this UV business?

by Kristin Booker  |  COMMENT

PHOTO 3/8
So, what does SPF mean?
So, what does SPF mean? SPF stands for "sun protection factor" and it's a rating of how much protection the product provides from one type of cancer-causing sunray: ultraviolet B or UVB. SPF is not a measure of protection against UVA light, nor is it (contrary to popular belief) a measure of how many minutes of protection you have (SPF 30 doesn't mean it's effective for 30 minutes). It's a multiplier of how long you can go without burning. Which means if you'd normally burn in about five minutes, an SPF of 15 means you could go 75 minutes without burning from UVB rays. The increase in the SPF number is an incremental increase in the amount of harmful UVB radiation filtered out. This means if SPF 15 filters about 93 percent of harmful UVB, SPF 30 filters about 97 percent.

Levin recommends all her patients use a broad-spectrum sunscreen with an SPF 30 or higher.

Image via Imaxtree

SEE NEXT PAGE: How does sunscreen actually work?
 

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