USC woman gets sunscreen dispenser in Lebo park
Tamara Reese, of Squirrel Hill, using the public dispenser to put sunscreen on one of her three children as they play in Mt. Lebanon Park.
A close-up of the public sunscreen dispenser in Mt. Lebanon Park near the playground.
Hand sanitizer dispensers are aplenty in public spaces, but Danielle Deroy Pirain saw no similar trend for sunscreen distribution during summer. The Upper St. Clair woman wants to change that, and started by having her employer, Vujevich Dermatology Associates, post the first public dispenser in the region in Mt. Lebanon Park. The practice will refill the dispenser, located near the playground, through the summer.
Ultraviolet radiation from the sun or tanning beds increases a person’s risk to contract skin cancer, according to research from the American Medical Association. Caucasians, those with fair skin or over the age of 50 are most at risk for Melanoma and other types of skin cancer.
“I’m very fair skinned, and so is my mom, most in my family. In fact, my mom was just diagnosed with skin cancer,” said the 39-year-old Mohs histologist, a person who examines skin cells for abnormalities.
An Australian study from 2011 found that daily use of sunscreen with an SPF rating of 16 or higher halved the incident rates of skin cancer.
Pirain, an avid sunscreen-wearer herself, said even the most dedicated expose themselves at times.
“I am an outdoor athlete. A triathlete; runner, biker, and I’m in locations where I sweat sunscreen off, or I forget to reapply when I’m on a trail. I saw Miami had proposed this for beaches, so I wanted to bring that here,” she said.
Mt. Lebanon public works officials agreed to Pirain’s proposal and installed the dispenser on June 17. She said she hopes other communities take notice and push for their own.
“I want to find this on bike trails in Pittsburgh, the Montour Trail, and maybe other community parks and baseball fields, and potentially universities and schools,” she said.
A Squirrel Hill resident, Tamara Reese, was at Mt. Lebanon Park playground with her three children, and said she hopes the devices start cropping up elsewhere.
“I think it’s great, because being a busy mom, sometimes you forget. My kids, like me, are very fair skinned, and when it’s overcast going to the park, sometimes you don’t bring sunscreen, and it can turn sunny, so I think it’s a great service,” she said.
Dr. Christie Regula, a dermatologist and Mohs surgeon, said despite an increase in sunscreen use, people are still reporting getting tans or burns because of improper use.
“You need a sunscreen with an SPF rating of 30 or higher, broad spectrum, and you need to reapply it every two hours,” she said.
She said the fastest-rising incident rate of skin cancer is among people in their 20s because of the use of tanning beds and lax attitudes toward sunscreen during the summer.