Sunlight, UV Radiation, Vitamin D, and Skin Cancer: How Much Sunlight Do We Need?

Vitamin D is the sunshine vitamin for good reason. During exposure to sunlight, the ultraviolet B photons enter the skin and photolyze 7-dehydrocholesterol to previtamin D3 which in turn is isomerized by the body's temperature to vitamin D3. Most humans have depended on sun for their vitamin D requirement. Skin pigment, sunscreen use, aging, time of day, season, and latitude dramatically affect previtamin D3 synthesis. Vitamin D deficiency was thought to have been conquered, but it is now recognized that more than 50% of the world's population is at risk for vitamin D deficiency. This deficiency is in part due to the inadequate fortification of foods with vitamin D and the misconception that a healthy diet contains an adequate amount of vitamin D. Vitamin D deficiency causes growth retardation and rickets in children and will precipitate and exacerbate osteopenia, osteoporosis and increase risk of fracture in adults. The vitamin D deficiency pandemic has other serious consequences including increased risk of common cancers, autoimmune diseases, infectious diseases, and cardiovascular disease. There needs to be a renewed appreciation of the beneficial effect of moderate sensible sunlight for providing all humans with their vitamin D requirement for health.