History of Sunscreen:

In ancient times the only way to protect yourself from the sun was to wear clothing that covered most of your body and large hats. Ancient people would use plant extracts and oils that they thought would help protect their skin from the sun. It was considered of high class to have pale skin and therefore people of high stature would use white powder (arsenic salts) to help produce a whiter looking appearance.
The modern development of sunscreen was produced by Eugene Schueller in 1935. He produced a sunscreen using benzyl salicylate as a UVR absorber. Schueller was the founder of a company known today to be L’Oreal and was great at advertising. After WWII he marketed a “tanned body” as a healthy body and used tanned women in bikinis to promote his product.
In 1962 there were two major advances in sunscreen materials and sunscreen testing. First benzophenone was introduced as a ingredient and its purpose was to absorb UVA rays. In the tests mouse skin was significantly protected from the UVA rays using this material. In the matter of testing the effectiveness of sunscreen Wiskemann and Heissen introduced the use of a water-cooled xenon high-pressure arc for the skin testing.
There is increasing evidence the UVA radiation can cause chronic skin damage in healthy people who are exposed to the sun. Therefore the search for a UVA absorbing agent has been the research of that is of greatest concern. The need for protection against sun damage of skin and eyes has existed since ancient times. Once again it is becoming fashionable to have “Pale skin” because this relates to having a long and healthy life.

How is your (or you family members’, co-workers’, or others’) use of the technology affected by the character of its production, distribution, and marketing? And vice versa

In many people today the look that is most associated with being beautiful is having a nice bronzed tan. There has been a significance increase in the amount of places where people are go to tan and also the amount of products there are to help enhance the look of your tan. The harm that is associated with tanning in the problem of developing skin diseases, in recent years there have been many studies that show the use of tanning either in a tanning be d or outdoors for a long period of time over many years or even months can increase your risk of developing certain types of skin disease. In today’s society you can see products now that can help you have a tan without using a tanning bed or even going outside these products are called “self tanners”. With the use of “self tanners” and tanning beds anyone can have a perfectly dark tanned body year round no matter what type of climate you live in.
To market sunscreens you often see a woman with children playing in the sun and layering on sunscreen tp help protect themselves from the harmful rays of the sun. These people are often less tanned than most people would like to be and the fact is that most people that are at risk to the sun either don’t use sunscreen or only apply half of the recommended thickness therefore the SPF that is seem on the label becomes cut it half.
The effect that sunscreen has on society is that without the use of sunscreen it would be very hard for people to produce a good tan that we see on many celebrities. Sunscreen was produce to help protect the skin from the harmful effects it can have which are skin cancers and other skin diseases.

http://www.skincancer.org/understanding-uva-and-uvb.html

UVA (long wave):

UVA, which penetrates the skin more deeply than UVB, has long been known to play a major part in skin aging and wrinkling (photoaging), but until recently scientists believed it did not cause significant damage in areas of the epidermis (outermost skin layer) where most skin cancers occur. Studies over the past two decades, however, show that UVA damages skin cells called keratinocytes in the basal layer of the epidermis, where most skin cancers occur. (Basal and squamous cells are types of keratinocytes.) UVA contributes to and may even initiate the development of skin cancers.
UVA is the dominant tanning ray, and we now know that tanning, whether outdoors or in a salon, causes cumulative damage over time. A tan results from injury to the skin’s DNA; the skin darkens in an imperfect attempt to prevent further DNA damage. These imperfections, or mutations, can lead to skin cancer.
Tanning booths primarily emit UVA. The high-pressure sunlamps used in tanning salons emit doses of UVA as much as 12 times that of the sun. Not surprisingly, people who use tanning salons are 2.5 times more likely to develop squamous cell carcinoma, and 1.5 times more likely to develop basal cell carcinoma. According to recent research, first exposure to tanning beds in youth increases melanoma risk by 75 percent.

UVB (short wave):

UVB, the chief cause of skin reddening and sunburn, tends to damage the skin’s more superficial epidermal layers. It plays a key role in the development of skin cancer and a contributory role in tanning and photoaging. Its intensity varies by season, location, and time of day. The most significant amount of UVB hits the U.S. between 10 AM and 4 PM from April to October. However, UVB rays can burn and damage your skin year-round, especially at high altitudes and on reflective surfaces such as snow or ice, which bounce back up to 80 percent of the rays so that they hit the skin twice. UVB rays do not significantly penetrate glass.
Gender and Sunscreen Use
Tables I and II show the distribution of study variables by gender and sunscreen use. As expected, screening participants tended to have a higher educational level and a greater number of skin cancer risk factors than would be observed in a general population sample. Women participants were significantly younger than males, more likely to report a family history of skin cancer, more likely to regularly use sunscreen, and less likely to have skin damage. The overall proportion of participants that used sunscreen regularly rose during the study period, from 42% in 1990 to 60% in 1992. A significant part of the graph to look at is the association between gender and sunscreen use was observed only among persons with 4 years of college or more, highly educated women used sunscreen more than did highly educated men. As shown in Tables I and III, personal and family histories of skin cancer/skin diseases were major factors associated with both gender and sunscreen use. Sunscreen users were more likely to report that they had some sort of tie to skin cancer or skin disease in their family, also out of people you don’t have any family ties to skin cancer or skin disease women use sunscreen more. However, there were no gender differences in sunscreen use among persons with a personal or family history of sunscreen use. Another predictor of characteristics between men and women was skin type and skin sensitivity. Highly sun-sensitive females regularly used sunscreen compared to less sun-sensitive females, while sun sensitivity was not significantly associated with sunscreen use in males. On the other hand, skin type was associated with sunscreen use in males but not in females.
Results
• A total of 351 people were used in the study of these 141 were males and 210 were females. Most participants had heard of the screening by flyer or poster.
• The average age was 43 years old and over 80% had at least some college education.
• Nine percent of the participants reported a personal history of skin cancer, 30% reported a family history of skin cancer, 50% reported regular use of sunscreen.

How are people involved in shaping that technology?
In the last decade, sunscreen products have changed significantly since the fear of skin cancer, wrinkles and age spots has caused society to think twice about their quest for a dark, exotic tan. Society, in general, is becoming increasingly health conscious and many groups, despite their potential love of a tan, are seeking protection against the negative health conditions caused by sun exposure.
We as a society are greatly concerned with physical appearance and beauty. In the early 1900s it was very popular too have very white skin this showed that you were of a high class and didn’t make your money by working outside in the sun. Over time things have changed and it became more and more popular to have a nice bronzed tan, but now things have come full circle with it becoming popular again to not be very tanned because this shows that you are increasing your chances of having skin diseases or cancer. It is not however as extreme as it was before it is still popular to some colour to your skin but the colour of your skin doesn’t exactly mean what it did in earlier years.
Where, with whom, and in what Situation are People using Sunscreen?
From our research were determined that both men and women characteristically use sunscreen in the summer months. Many people use sunscreen based on the direct exposure that they expect to get in any given day. Another factor to using sunscreen would be the length of time that you will be exposed to the sun if it is a insignificant amount of time then no sunscreen would be put on.

How does using Sunscreen, or even its very Existence, Change the Lives of the Individuals Interacting with it? Of Other People?
Sunscreen and sunscreen products are applied to the skin in order to prevent burning and other harmful effects of the sun, most notably, skin cancer. The existence of sunscreen allows individuals to control the darkness of their tan or otherwise, how much they will allow their skin to be exposure to the sun’s ultraviolet rays. Sunscreen is meant to help block UVA and UBA rays that cause skin disease and skin cancers. Individuals who do not apply sunscreen to their skin risk developing these skin diseases or skin cancers in the future.