[Judy Pino] Many of us are heading outdoors after a long winter, but before you sun worshippers begin your annual ritual, you should know that overexposure to ultraviolet, or UV, radiation is the number one preventable risk factor for skin cancer. Hello, and welcome to Green Scene, EPA's series of environmental podcasts that you can take with you. I'm Judy Pino. Did you know that substantially more than one million cases of skin cancer are diagnosed annually? That's more than lung, breast, prostate and colon cancer combined. More than 10,000 will die of the disease each year. Now, May is National Melanoma and Skin Cancer Detection and Prevention Month, and to tell us how the EPA is educating the public through the SunWise Program is Bob Varney, regional administrator for EPA's New England office, and Shonda Schilling, founder and president of SHADE Foundation of America and a skin cancer melanoma survivor. Thank you both for being with us. [Shonda Schilling] Thank you for having us. [Bob Varney] Thank you. [Judy Pino] Bob, let's start with you. Growing up, everybody always told us, go outside, get your exercise, get your vitamin D. As we grow older, they tell us, hey, if you're going to be in the sun, it's not a good idea unless you take preventive measures. [Bob Varney] That's right, Judy, and overexposure to the sun is a serious public health issue that we all need to be concerned about. It can suppress your immune system. It can cause eye damage such as cataracts. It can cause premature aging of your skin. And, of course, it can cause skin cancer, so it's a very serious public health issue, something that EPA and the SHADE Foundation have been working on for several years now and something that needs our attention. [Judy Pino] Well, Shonda, you founded the SHADE Foundation August of 2002, after a successful battle against melanoma, and you were a self-declared sun worshipper. [Shonda Schilling] I was. I think it's a product of my age. I grew up on the East Coast. As soon as the winter -- we got to 70 degrees, 60 degrees, we would go outside and put the baby oil on, and we really didn't know what the dangers of the sun were and how it would affect us 20 years from now. I don't really remember ever being told about sunblock or anything back then. [Judy Pino] And you did find some spots on your back, some moles on your back, and people did tell you, hey, that doesn't look good, but you didn't really pay attention to it. [Shonda Schilling] I think what happened to me in 2001, when I went in to the doctor's office and they said "biopsy" and they took the spot off and they told me to call in 10 days and get my results, and it was actually 36 hours. And when you get that phone call that changes your life forever and says you have malignant melanoma and we need to do chest X-rays, a blood test and see if the cancer's spread and given you a survival rate, it gives you a big blow. And I went in and I had the surgery, and I had five surgeries that year, and I can remember the moment that that changed my life but also changed my life as far as prevention forever. [Judy Pino] And all this information and the pictures are on your Web site, shadefoundation.org. Now, Shonda, Bob, she's fair-skinned, but the truth is, race is not really a factor when it comes to melanoma and skin cancer. [Bob Varney] No, it's not. In fact, people are very surprised when they hear that African Americans actually have a lower survival rate than Caucasians do with respect to skin cancer. So, anyone, including those with dark skin, need to be concerned about overexposure to the sun. Even Bob Marley, for example, died of skin cancer, so it can happen to anyone in our society and we all need to be aware of it. [Judy Pino] It could happen to anyone. Well, you decided to found this foundation because you realized that there just wasn't enough awareness out there. [Shonda Schilling] There wasn't any awareness. For me there was no way -- I didn't know how I was going to start living my life. I had young kids. I didn't know anything about sunblock. [Judy Pino] And your focus is on the children, isn't it? [Shonda Schilling] It is on the children. I had a five-, a three- and a one-year old at the time. By the time that I founded SHADE two of them were in school. I went to the schools in Arizona and there were no shade coverings over the playgrounds. And I said to the principal, "I want a shade covering up," and they said the PTAs have to buy them and we couldn't afford them. [Judy Pino] No money, mm-hmm. [Shonda Schilling] And so I put them up, and the shade covering is a constant reminder to those kids that, you know what, I need to seek shade. [Judy Pino] Well, Shonda, I'm sure since suffering from skin cancer and founding the foundation, you've become very knowledgeable on the dos and don'ts -- [Shonda Schilling] I have. [Judy Pino] -- of sun exposure. Let's go over some helpful recommendations. [Shonda Schilling] Well, one of the things we've partnered with the Environmental Protection Agency, they have this wonderful kit that's free to teachers, and it's a complete teaching kit from K-8. You can teach it for an hour, you can teach it for a week, you can teach it for a semester. And one of the things that we go in and teach is how to prevent, how to prevent skin cancer and what things we can do. We teach them about wearing a hat and that a wide-brimmed hat is better, long sleeves, long pants, sunblock, if you have short sleeves or shorts on to wear sunblock, that the sunblock needs to have UVA and UVB protection, to wear sunglasses and to seek shade. [Judy Pino] Shonda, some other recommendations is to look at your shadow. [Shonda Schillings] I always say this to kids: When is your shadow the longest? When is it the shortest? When it's the shortest it's the hottest part of the day, which is when the sun is directly over you. And that's why we say between 10:00 and 4:00 is the most dangerous time to be out in the sun. [Judy Pino] Okay, so take a look at your shadow and also visit your dermatologist. Now, Bob, the EPA, aside from the SunWise kit, which we'll get into in just a little bit, and the National Weather Service have developed the UV Index forecast, which -- we hear about it all the time on the news. Why should we be paying attention? [Bob Varney] The UV Index is very important because it enables us to look at the strength of the sun in the upcoming day and to determine the relationship between that forecast and what we need to do in terms of prevention. We are surprised to find that many people don't recognize that there's no relationship between temperature and the UV Index. So they think that if it's a cool, sunny day that they don't need to worry about prevention, when, in fact, the UV Index could be even higher during a cold day in Boston that's sunny in April as compared to a day in August. [Judy Pino] That's an amazing fact. [Bob Varney] So the UV Index is a very important tool for everyone to be aware of. [Judy Pino] Okay, so now let's get a little bit more into the EPA SunWise Program, which has been amazing, 18,000 schools already involved, and Shonda with her program, getting it into the schools and teaching it herself, tell me a little bit more about this got started. [Bob Varney] The SunWise Program has been a tremendous program for EPA and we greatly appreciate Shonda's advocacy for this program across the country as well as in the New England region. We have many schools and communities that are participating, as you've indicated, and it helps teach people about the dangers of overexposure to the sun as well as looking at preventive measures that they can take. It's available to our schools. As you've indicated, over 18,000 schools are now participating, but it's also available to summer camps, to museums, to science centers and other groups. As Shonda indicated, it only takes an hour or two to use this toolkit that we have available, and it's entirely free. So people should take advantage, go on the EPA Web site, go on Shonda's Web site and get more information. [Judy Pino] And it's more than 50 easy-to-use activities, right, Shonda, and it's for kids K through eighth grade? [Shonda Schilling] Right. [Judy Pino] Well, Shonda can speak for the kit because she's used it with the kids, but there are statistics on just how successful the kit has been. [Bob Varney] Yes, it's been very, very, very successful. In fact, in a recent journal called "Pediatrics" they've estimated that over 3,000 skin cancers have been avoided due to this program and over 15 premature deaths have been avoided. So, as this program grows, as people increase their awareness, we'll help not only prevent skin cancer but we'll help save lives. [Judy Pino] Now, Shonda, you have been very successful at passing very important legislation in your state of Arizona in regards to SunWise and information on sun protection in the schools. [Shonda Schilling] That was something that -- when I went out there, I was confident, I was comfortable, and when they were voting on it I started to cry because it was so important to me. And not only that, there were seven panelist. Five of the seven were affected by skin cancer. We know it affects so many people. And it was -- the only program, mandatory program, taught in Arizona is the SunWise EPA program. [Judy Pino] Well, Shonda, you were able to meet Administrator Johnson. Bob, he was up in your neck of the woods in Boston. He visited for Earth Day to celebrate Boston becoming a SunWise community. [Bob Varney] Yes, we had a great event with Shonda, with Mayor Menino and with Administrator Johnson at one of the parks in the city of Boston. We're very fortunate that Shonda and her foundation donated $5,000 for the planting of, I believe, over 100 trees for the parks so kids can come down, enjoy the parks, participate in all the sports opportunities but have a place to get into the shade and get out of the sun. Just as Shonda was saying, we need to provide that environment where people can be outside but be outside in a healthy way, not in a harmful way. [Judy Pino] And, of course, we should mention that Shonda's husband is star pitcher for the Boston Red Sox, Curtis Schillings, so you guys are an outdoors family. [Shonda Schilling] Yes, it wasn't so much in Arizona because it was a domed stadium, but at Fenway Park it's wide open. We are very lucky that the Boston Red Sox, when we came here, said, we'll do whatever we can to help you. And again, showing you how much this touches people, I've been there four years, every year a player or a wife has had melanoma or some form of serious skin cancer, so it's all over. [Judy Pino] So, people don't really talk about it. [Shonda Schilling] They don't talk about it, but we are talking about it now and getting the word out. And I really believe that this is going to become something that is a changed behavior in 10 years. [Judy Pino] It's a good thing. It's a good thing. We should also mention, Fenway Park is now a green stadium. We should say that. So, kudos for that. But even better still, Boston isn't the only SunWise community. You have Cobb County, Georgia, and the whole state of Washington is planning to kick off their commitment to SunWise. [Bob Varney] That's right. We have more and more communities, more and more states, more and more school districts that are participating with us, and I think the main reason is that they are reading the statistics. They're finding that this is an entirely preventable form of cancer and that it's very inexpensive to prevent death, very inexpensive to prevent the things that Shonda went through. And the cost-effectiveness is off the chart. So that's why I think you're going to see more and more states, more and more communities as well as continued support in our federal government for this program, because it just makes so much sense. [Judy Pino] Well, Shonda, I'll give you the last word. Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. Where do we go from here? [Shonda Schilling] I think that, as adults, we need to realize, with the kids, one in five children will grow up to have skin cancer, but it's our responsibility. And the one thing that I tell parents is, what will you do in 20 years if your child comes home with skin cancer? So, for parents, take a look at yourself, get that skin exam, watch the spots on your body, and for the kids, help me spread the word, help us spread the word, that's for sure. [Judy Pino] Well, thank you. Thanks again, both of you, for coming. [Shonda Schilling] Thank you. [Bob Varney] Thank you. [Judy Pino] Now, we should mention, EPA is co-sponsoring a sun safety poster contest for students with the SHADE Foundation and WeatherBug schools. The winners will be announced on June 2, but we need you all to go vote for the lucky winner before May 31. Just visit the SHADE Foundation Web site at www.shadefoundation.org, and to learn more about EPA's SunWise Program, please visit www.epa.gov/sunwise. See you next time on Green Scene.