Free sunblock is now available at three locations in Greene County for the public to use.

The free sunblock is at the Jefferson Municipal Swimming Pool, the Greene County Early Learning Center and the concession stand at Spring Lake Park. We’ve previously reported that Greene County Public Health received the sunblock through a grant from the Iowa Cancer Consortium.

“When they awarded it, they allowed for us to have three, (one)-gallon jugs of sunscreen. It has the SPF of 30 on it. Our intentions are to encourage people to apply the sunscreen and protect their skin from sunburns, suntans and hopefully skin cancer.”

That’s Public Health Director Becky Wolf. She recommends applying sunblock every two to three hours while you are outside. Every time you come out of the swimming pool, sunblock should be applied again, because Wolf points out that sunblock loses its effectiveness when exposed to water.

Wolf adds that they will provide educational session about harmful effects of sun exposure and providing free mini-packets of sunblock to the public as well.