How Safe is Your Sunscreen?

The Madison beaches are quite beautiful this time of year.  As the end of the school year approaches, the beaches will fill up with year long residents as well as summer vacationers.  One necessity at the beach is sunscreen. 

Sunscreens are products applied to the skin to protect against the harmful effects of the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays. However, the very ingredients in sunscreens that offer sun protection have also been found to have adverse side effects. In a disturbing investigation of 952 name-brand sunscreens, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that 4 out of 5 sunscreen products offer inadequate protection from the sun, or contain ingredients with significant safety concerns. 

There is also a growing awareness that sunscreen ingredients like the parabens and Benzophenone may function like human estrogens and actually disrupt the normal hormonal functioning of the body. It is extremely important this summer to read the labels before you buy the product!

Here are the ingredients in your sunscreen that are TOXIC:

• Benzophenone is easily absorbed by the skin.
  • This chemical is present in most sunscreens. It tends to cause skin irritations and allergies.
  • Benzophenone- 3 behaves like the hormone oestrogen and increases the numbers of oestrogen sensitive breast cancer cells. It also has the potential to disrupt the hormonal balance of users.
• Other products that harm include
  • Homosalate and octyl-methoxycinnamate (also called octinoxate): this also acts like oestrogen in test tubes
  • Padimate-O is a derivative of PABA. PABA was earlier widespread in sunscreens but caused irritations and was discontinued. Padimate-O is said to cause damage to the DNA which could cause cancer.
  • Titanium dioxide application also indicates DNA damage. These last two are as yet only lab and not human and living animal experiments
  • Diethanolamine (DEA) and associated compounds like triethanolamine or TEA may lead to cancer causing compounds if the sunscreen contains nitrites. The FDA agrees that this is possible and is attempting to examine this. They do not as yet acknowledge risk to users.
  • Parabens including butyl-, ethyl-, methyl-, and propyl-paraben are used as preservatives in almost all sunscreens. They, like benzophenone, act like oestrogen and therefore carry similar risk. Not using them means cutting out all sunscreen use.
  • Synthetic fragrances could cause allergies or asthma.

Please keep this information in mind when buying this year's sunscreen for your family.    Your safest sunscreen is covering yourself, or your family members, with a hat and shirt.  If that isn't an option there are plenty of mineral and organic bases options available online and in speciality health stores. 

I hope you have a safe, wonderful summer.