FDA posts sunscreen rules after decades-long delay

WASHINGTON, D.C -  

It's almost as big a part of summer as baseball and beachwear.

The conventional wisdom of the past 20 years is that if you're going to spend time outside everyone, should put something on their skin to protect it from the sun's harsh rays.

"I wear SPF 30 and I think its good protection against the sun and I don't want to get skin cancer or anything” Tavon Mayne of Owings Mills says.

There are two types of rays from the sun to worry about if you're going to spend time outside.

UV-A and UV-B rays which can cause skin cancer and age the skin.

Folks like Barbara Holcomb won't go anywhere without putting sunscreen on her little boy or her grandchildren.

She says especially for little guys.

"I talked to my doctor and we use around 50 and anything after that is no use it's the same thing." Holcomb says.

Manufacturers were making and selling products that made big claims but actually did little

The new labeling guidelines get rid of water and sweat proof claims.

Limit maximum protection to SPF 50, anything above that the feds say is bogus.

Products that protect against both types of harmful rays must be called broad spectrum...but only products spf 15 and broad spectrum can say they protect against cancer and skin aging.

For many folks hearing the changes won't make them stop using them but allow them to shop smarter.

"I may rethink it now that I hear that and anything above 50 really isn't doing me much better I may rethink what I put on now because I normally use about 70 or 80 or 85." Rob Parks of Parkville says.

The FDA first considered doing something about this back in 1978 but standards got put on the back burner for more than 20 years.

But new methods of testing have made it possible to judge levels of sun protection.

The new labels have already started appearing on some products but manufacturers will be required to do so, on all their products next year.