Another British news source is reporting that Great Britain’s cancer authorities are going to bury the all-out ‘Sun Scare’ messaging in favor of asking people to embrace the sun with common sense.

In other words: Goodbye 365/24 sunscreen.

London’s Daily Mail reported that a confidential Cancer Research UK document indicates that advice about sun and chemical sunscreen usage will be changed as follows:

CURRENT ADVICE:

Seek out the shade between 11am and 3pm, cover up with clothing, a hat and sunglasses and use factor 15+ sunscreen.

EXPECTED NEW ADVICE:

Use your common sense when sunbathing in the heat of the day. Some skin types may be able to dispense with sun cream for short periods without burning.

“This is a huge acknowledgment — the research on vitamin D and sunlight as the only natural source is spreading worldwide, and groups are figuring out that if they continue to ignore it they are putting themselves in a tremendous position of liability,” Smart Tan Vice President Joseph Levy said. “So while this message is somewhat less than a full-endorsement, anyone familiar with the issue can tell that this group wants to avoid liability down the road of people being able to say that their advice led to vitamin D deficiency.”

Over-use of chemical sunscreen, which blocks 99 percent of natural vitamin D production, has been implicated as the likely cause of an epidemic-level surge in vitamin D deficiency worldwide in the past generation. Sun care advice had told people to wear sunscreen 365/24 instead of just when sunburn was possible.

The Daily Mail reported that a confidential statement being prepared by the Cancer Research UK charity acknowledges that the evidence about the benefits of vitamin D is growing. According to The Daily Mail report, the briefing paper, drawn up with several other charities, states: “The time required to make sufficient vitamin D is typically short and less than the time needed for skin to redden and burn. … Regularly going outside for a matter of minutes around the middle of the day without sunscreen should be enough. When it comes to sun exposure, little and often is best. However, people should get to know their own skin, to understand how long they can spend outside before risking sunburn under different conditions.”

To read the Daily Mail report click here.