What Causes Skin Cancer? Do You Know When Enough Sun Is Enough?

In answering the question, what causes skin cancer?…the usual answer is to blame the sun and ultraviolet rays. I don’t think that is really a fair and complete answer.

Isn’t the sun one of the essentials of life along with water and oxygen? Without any one of these there would be no life on earth.

Maybe you can remember hearing on the news a few years ago about a 35 year old man who died from drinking too much water. (Fox News, Jan. 31, 2008)

What Causes Skin Cancer? Do You Know When Enough Sun Is Enough?

Did you know that too much oxygen can cause cell damage and even death? (Oxygen toxicity, Wikipedia)

The same is true about sun rays being one of the leading causes of skin cancer, but just like the water and oxygen, the real problem is OVEREXPOSURE.

So really, what causes skin cancer? The answer is simple, too much exposure to the sun. Sunburn, cumulative tanning, artificial ultraviolet rays produced by tanning beds all can be a prerequisite to cancer of the skin. Enough is enough! At the very least these practices are damaging your skin, causing premature aging and wrinkles.

What Causes Skin Cancer? Do You Know When Enough Sun Is Enough?

Often the cancer being caused may be melanoma and can soon appear at a young age. Basal cell and squamous cell cancers usually show up at a later age, maybe beginning in your 40’s and beyond.

So yes, for certain, all of this is true, but what about the benefit of the sunshine vitamin D? Again, just as we all need water and oxygen for survival, we need the benefits of the sun to keep us healthy.

There’s a line drawn here where the healthy benefits stop and the damage starts. I can help you define this line by going to the “sunscreen-facts” page on my website as given below.

What Causes Skin Cancer? Do You Know When Enough Sun Is Enough?

Culture also has something to do with what causes skin cancer. In cultures where it is accepted to expose a large part of your body to the sun, the incidence of this disease is much higher. In other cultures where people don’t really expose themselves, there’s a much lower rate.

Some other causes of skin cancer would be exposure to certain chemicals. Workers who are regularly exposed to radium, insecticides, coal tar, and some other carcinogens would be at a little higher than normal risk for non-melanoma cancer.

What Causes Skin Cancer? Do You Know When Enough Sun Is Enough?

Enjoy the sun and enjoy your life but always use caution and know when to get out of it and when to avoid it completely. Avoid exposure to harmful chemicals.