New research has revealed that as many as one in five Brits (23%) do not know what UVA and UVB rays are, let alone the damage they can cause.
Brit's lack of knowledge on these harmful rays means that they continue to put themselves at risk. The cancerous rays are present come rain or shine so we should be protecting ourselves from them at all times.
40% of people asked what UVA and UVB sun rays are did not know, and 13% thought that only UVA rays were harmful. Worringly they were also unable to identify that both UVA and UVB rays could cause skin damage and cancer.
Said Duncan Graham, Technical Manager at Tesco, who carried out the research: "It’s clear from this research that consumers are still confused. UVA and UVB rays BOTH cause damage, even when the sun is not shining, which is why consumers should seek broad spectrum sun protection that offers both UVA defence and SPF protection against UVB rays. UVB can cause immediate and obvious sun damage in the form of sunburn, whereas the damage that UVA rays are causing in the short-term is hard to see, but BOTH increase the risk of skin cancer in the long-term."
Over half of those questioned (52%), do not even have a basic understanding of what SPF (sun protection factor) stands for, or the important role it plays in safe sun-exposure.
The survey also found that alarmingly as many as one in six people admit they still never buy sun cream, with the worst culprits from Northern Ireland (37%), followed by those in the South West (21%).
Skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the UK.