If you ever seen people walking on a hot day with an umbrella, you probably thinking where is the rain. In fact, many of them use an umbrella to protect them from the sun and in some
cultures to prevent becoming tanned. According to Johnson & Johnson, they have conducted where they found that you can get sunburn still when using an umbrella especially for hours on
end on of each.
What the research shown is that we need much more protection than that of an umbrella. It is advisable to put on extra skin protection like sunscreen. From this research of 90 people,
they were tasked to sit on a beach for close to four hours during the afternoon in Texas. One of the criteria is to try to stay under the shade of the umbrella as much as possible.
They were allowed to take their breaks very short if needed.
After that day, clinical researchers looked at the data and focused on the category of whether they use sunscreen while under the umbrella. What is fascinating is that there was over or close to, 150 incidental burns for those who used and umbrella without sunscreen. The group who used sunscreen amounted to only 17 incidental burns. Understand that any kind of redness on the body counted as a “incidental” burn but not clearly defined as a sunburn. From that, true sunburns were found in only two individuals in the group who use sunscreen. There was only 17 true sunburns that were not found in individuals from the group of umbrella users, but as mentioned, there was 150 incidental burns in that group.
In conclusion the beach umbrellas did a decent job of blocking the direct angles of the sunlight but it still reflected off the scent onto their skin, hence the incidental burns. Take into account that you are on a island of sand, the sunlight if intensified on an angle will bounce off the sand anywhere. At the end of the day it is best to have both protection of the umbrella and a good SPF sunscreen when on the beach lounging for several hours. Even then it is recommended not to be out for that long. Understand that an SPF 30 will represent a filtration of 97% of rays that are of UVB. UVB can cause major sunburns. An SPF of 50 has the filtration power of 98%. What is interesting is that based on a consumer report, many of these sunscreens could not provide the mandatory protection for humans and can damange or cause dry skin. So make sure to purchase a reputable brand.