Featured by The Wall Street Journal

Sun-Protection CompaniesWage War Against UV Rays

It turns out there is something new under the sun: Sun-protection companies are now taking the war against UV rays high-tech.

Just introduced: SunSpots, a human take on those pop-up thermometers they put in Thanksgiving turkeys. You stick one of the yellow nickel-sized stickers on your skin, smear it with your sunscreen, and when it turns orange, you're done. (They're $6 for 24 spots.) Rit Sun Guard, meanwhile, billed as "the first product to wash UV protection into clothing," is a colorless laundry additive that makes garments like white cotton T-shirts more resistant to the sun's rays.

Then there are Australian Solarsuits, made of what the company says is UV-blocking fabric that also stands up to the destructive powers of chlorine and saltwater. The kids' suits are best-sellers at SunProtected.com, an online store specializing in sun-screening products.

Sales are being fanned by news reports of a thinning ozone layer and a significant increase in cases of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer. In fact, retail sales of old-fashioned sun blocks -- SPF 15 and higher sun products -- have jumped almost 50% since 1995 to $360 million, according to Kline & Co., a New Jersey market-research firm.

Their moment in the sun: Companies have called out high tech artillery in the war against UV rays.
So if we use these we can stay in the sun longer, right? Well, no. "It doesn't take a rocket scientist to see that this defeats the purpose," says Martin A. Weinstock, a professor of dermatology at Brown University. He puts Rit's Sun Guard, which sells for $2.50 a box, in the it-can't-hurt category, though he points out that -- as anyone who's ever ended up with a farmer tan knows -- clothing is already pretty good at blocking the sun.

Still, the whole idea should be to stay out of the sun, Dr. Weinstock says -- not find technologically advanced ways to eke out every possible second of harmful rays.

But try telling a four-year-old to park himself in the shade. Pre-schooler Drew Morrison of sunny Oak Park, Calif., recently wore a SunSpot to his team's soccer practice. He thought the sticker was pretty cool, though it never did turn orange (because his mother had more or less bathed him in high-SPF sunscreen). Lyle Durham, president and CEO of SunSpots, suggests covering half of a spot with sunscreen and leaving the other half unprotected if you want to show your children the sun's effects.

Perhaps the most sensible of these new products may be the sun-blocking bathing outfits. So far this season, SunProtected.com has sold more than 200 of the children's versions, which go for about $40, says Stephanie Leffler, co-owner of the Web site.

However, the main reason the swim suits are so protective isn't because they're new or high-tech. It's because they're two-piece, shirt-and-shorts getups with sleeves and high necks. That's right. Like Victorian "bathing costumes," they simply don't expose as much skin.