The Story Of How Sunblock Came To Be

There was a time when people played in the sun without Sunblock to protect them from its dangerous UV rays. These mixtures are very effective in preventing sun damage and have helped to prevent millions of painful sunburns over the year. Despite popular belief, sunblock is not the same as sunscreen.

Sunblock is more effective than sunscreen because it offers an opaque cover for skin that completely blocks both types of UV rays. You will not tan through sunblock because of the opaque covering; therefore it is in most cases more effective than sunscreen at completely protecting the skin from harmful rays. Sunscreen stops some UV rays while still allowing sufficient sun to get through for tanning.

The original sunblock product was created in 1938. Franz Greiter, whose company still exists today, created the first recognized sunblock product. He invented the product after getting a particularly painful sunburn. Franz Greiter's product is acknowledged as the original sunblock, but it was not the first to sell successfully. It was nearlyt ten years later before sunblock actually hit the store shelves.

Around 1944, production of some stuff known as Red Vet Pet began its history as the first mass produced block. The odd name came after Red Vet Petrolatum, the core ingredient in the product. Red Vet Pet continued on to be purchased in the fifties by a company you likely know as Coppertone.

The original version of sun protection was sticky and quite similar to red-toned petroleum jelly. The Red Vet was somewhat ineffective as it could easily wash off in water and not entirely block the sun. Since the real effects of UV rays were not widely known during this point in history sun blocks and screens were not very popular at first.

The sun protection found in stores today offer a very superior level of protection compared to the original formulas. Today it is recommended that kids and babies use around SPF50 of protection. Still improving on his formula in the 1960s, Mr. Greiter developed the SPF rating system to measure a formula's effectiveness. The earliest versions of sun protection were rated with an SPF of about 2.

Sun protection products today are much more popular and much nicer. Though there are some controversies regarding blocks, they are recommended by the American Cancer Society to protect skin from deadly cancers caused by the sun. With the diminishment of sections of the ozone layer it has become more and more important to protect oneself from skin cancer. Fortunately new products are nothing like the red petroleum products of the past and they get better each year.

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