ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Wednesday, May 15, 1996 TAG: 9605150038
SECTION: BUSINESS PAGE: B-8 EDITION: METRO
COLUMN: marketplace
SOURCE: MEGAN SCHNABEL
You could see your breath when you walked the dog yesterday morning, and you had to dig a sweater out of storage so you wouldn't shiver while driving to work.
But summer is coming. And, hard as it is to believe right now, in a month or so you'll be slathering aloe gel on your deep-fried back, cursing for staying out in the sun too long.
You can, of course, head off the blistering, peeling, can't-even-bear-to-sit-down sunburn agony before it hits. This season, in addition to the usual ultraviolet-radiation deterrents - sunglasses, sunblock, floppy-brimmed hats - you can try several new high-tech gadgets.
If you're the kind of person who never can tell when enough sun is enough, check out a UV dosimeter - a sensor that absorbs UV rays and then tells you just how strong they are. And, thus, how long you can safely stay outside exposed to the rays.
One of the least expensive sensors is Sunburn Alert, a quarter-sized adhesive patch that you stick on your skin or clothing. It's made by Enzone Inc., of Davie, Fla., a company that also sells microwave leak detectors, radon and lead test kits and carbon monoxide detectors.
The patch changes color as your UV exposure increases: blue to green to yellow to orange. Yellow is a warning that fair-skinned people should apply more sunblock or get out of the sun. By the time the patch turns orange, even people who don't usually burn should head for the shade.
"It's the only way that people can tell they've had enough sun," said Enzone president Joseph McDonnell.
It's certainly a less painful way than discovering - hours later, when you're trying to pull on a pair of jeans - that the backs of your legs are boiled-lobster red.
The patches, which last all day and are unaffected by water or sunblock, are calibrated for fair-skinned people, McDonnell said. They come in two types - for adults and for kids. The kids' version is designed to be used with SPF-15 sunblock. A package of six stickers sells for about $5.
If you want something a little more sophisticated, Sunsor Inc. of Allison Park, Pa., sells a UV meter that measures radiation and then, based on your skin type, tells you how long before you'll start to burn.
Just point the wallet-sized device toward the sun, then match the digital readout number - the Sunsor Scale level - against the UV exposure guide. If the level is 70, for example, and you have Type 2 skin - light to medium, usually burns - you could be outside 30 minutes before you start to burn. Someone with Type 5 skin - dark, seldom burns - could be fine for 90 minutes of sunshine.
The meter sells for around $45.
Several companies, including South Seas Trading Co. of Hawaii, sell cheaper alternatives with fewer bells and whistles. South Seas' Ultraviolet Sensometer, a credit-card-sized gadget, costs about $5. It won't tell you ahead of time how long you can stay in the sun, but a strip on the card will turn from white to blue when UV rays are present.
You even can use the card to check the effectiveness of your sunglasses, the manufacturers say. Hold the card under the lenses in the sun. If your glasses have UV protection, the sensor strip will stay white. Same with sunblock: Smear some of your lotion on the strip. As long as the protected part of the strip stays white, the sunscreen is still working.
Long-term exposure to UV rays can contribute to cataracts, cancer of the eyelid, loss of vision and other eye diseases. New UV-absorbing disposable soft contact lenses from Pilkington Barnes Hind of Sunnyvale, Calif., are designed to reduce the amount of radiation that hits your eye.
While the effectiveness of wearing such lenses in preventing UV-related eye problems hasn't been proved, the contacts do absorb an average of 90 percent of UV radiation. Regular lenses absorb from 5 percent to 20 percent of the rays.
But you still should wear sunglasses - which, ophthalmologists say, should absorb at least 99 percent of the full UV spectrum.
Just remember: None of these gizmos is a substitute for good sun sense.
``Common sense is the best guide,'' said Dr. Gary Gross, a dermatologist at Lewis-Gale Clinic in Salem. ``But these could be a good backup.''
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