391 Public sunscreen dispensers and consumer sunscreen trends during the COVID-19 pandemic

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has impacted societal and public behaviors as prevention efforts restrict activities and socialization Many citizens are finding themselves turning to outdoor activities to properly social distance and stay physically, emotionally, and mentally healthy IMPACT Melanoma, a non-profit aimed to reduce skin cancer and conduct skin cancer prevention outreach, provides sunscreen dispensers and sunscreen to many park and recreational institutions We hypothesize that IMPACT's distribution, along with sunscreen purchases by consumers, will be decreased during the COVID-19 pandemic Findings of the study demonstrate a 61% reduction of sunscreen dispensers in 2020, when compared to 2019 In parallel, there was a 50 8% decrease in purchases of cases of sunscreen Sector sponsorship by public health departments and parks/recreational facilities (the largest 2019 sponsors) decreased by 49 7% and 27 9%, respectively Trends in the general public’s purchase of sunscreen reflected similar pandemic-related declines Consumers in the US purchased less sunscreen starting in March 2020 (-3% for the week ending 3/7/2020, followed by -17% for the week ending 3/14/2020), with the largest decreases in April and May (-31% to -65%) Some tapering in declining sunscreen sales was observed in early June despite the outdoor activity-oriented Memorial Day holiday weekend (-11% for the week ending 6/6/2020) As illustrated by these findings, the increase in outdoor activity among the general public combined with a reduction in sunscreen sales and distribution poses an increased exposure to UV light, which inevitably increases the risk of skin cancer Additional studies are necessary to further explore the impact of COVID-19 on skin cancer prevention efforts