We couldn't exist without the sun. The sun brings us food and life. The red and infrared rays actually accelerate the healing process of the human body, while the ultraviolet rays produce vitamin D. The downside is that too much of a good thing can be dangerous!
Do you use sunscreen every time you go out in the sun?
Every year the Environmental Working Group (EWG) releases their annual guide to sunscreens and this year's data again shows that you must be very cautious when choosing sunscreen.
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Two-thirds of the sunscreens analyzed by EWG did not work well or contained potentially hazardous ingredients. This included many of the most popular brands on the market.
If you use sunscreen purchased from a drug store, grocery store, or discount chain, there's a high chance your sunscreen is on EWG's worst sunscreens list.
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EWG Releases Toxic Sunscreens' List
Top-selling sunscreen brands including Neutrogena, Rite Aid, Walgreens "Well" brand, "Up and Up" brand from Target, and Coppertone were among those that made the most toxic list. Most contained the following three "red flag" ingredients.
1. Oxybenzone
2. Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin A palmitate)
3. Fragrance
Also beware of:
1. Parabens: Synthetic preservatives known to interfere with hormone production and release.
2. Phthalates: Another synthetic preservative that's carcinogenic and linked to reproductive effects (decreased sperm counts, early breast development, and birth defects) and liver and kidney damage.
3. Synthetic musks: These are linked to hormone disruption and are thought to persist and accumulate in breast milk, body fat, umbilical cord blood, and the environment.
How to Choose a Safer Sunscreen
The sunscreens featured in EWG's best sunscreens' list do not contain the three toxic ingredients listed above. In lieu of the skin-penetrating hormone-disrupting chemicals like oxybenzone, the safer sunscreens tended to use non-nanoparticle sized zinc- and titanium-based mineral ingredients, which block the sun's rays without penetrating your skin. Additionally.
Here is what to look for when choosing a safer sunscreen:
1. Avoid Spray Sunscreens: These are incredibly popular, especially for kids, but the convenience comes at a price. When the sunscreen is sprayed, toxic particles are released into the air, making them easy to breathe in, with unknown health effects. Spray-on sunscreens may also contain flammable ingredients, and there have been reports in which a person wearing the sunscreen received serious burns from coming close to an open flame.
2. Avoid Super-High SPFs: Higher SPF sunscreens (SPF 50+) are not intrinsically harmful. However, there's evidence that the higher protection level gives people a misleading sense of security, encouraging them to stay in the sun longer than they should. In reality, research suggests that people using high-SPF sunscreens get the same or similar exposure to ultraviolet (UV) rays as those using lower-SPF products.
3. Avoid Sunscreen Towelettes or Powders: These offer dubious sun protection and the powder poses a risk of lung irritation if you inhale it.
4. Protects Against Both UVA and UVB Rays: SPF only protects against UVB rays, which are the rays within the ultraviolet spectrum that allow your body to produce vitamin D in your skin. But the most dangerous rays, in terms of causing skin damage and cancer, are the UVA rays. This is why you always want to make sure any sunscreen you buy protects against UVA as well as UVB.
How Can You Determine if Your Sunscreen Offers UVA Protection?
For now, in the US, there's no way to measure a sunscreen's ability to protect you from UVA just by reading the label (the way you can gauge UVB protection using the SPF). However, look for a sunscreen that contains the minerals zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. UVA is divided into two wave ranges, UVA1, which measures 340-400 nanometers (nm, or billionths of a meter), and UVA2, which measures from 320-340 nanometers.
Titanium dioxide is a physical filter for UVB and UVA2, while zinc oxide is effective against UVB and both ranges of UVA (UVA1 and UVA2).
Two Other Consideration:
1. Recent research has indicated that sunscreens may not totally protect against melanoma. The damage to the skin very well may still occur, even with the highest SPF sunscreens. This may occur even if the skin doesn't turn red! The best strategy as far as this goes is to err on the side of caution and cover up rather than getting excessive sun exposure.
2. Vitamin D production is drastically reduced when using sunscreens. Vitamin D is essential for good health. If you want to get your vitamin D from the sun, getting some sun, without sunscreen, during mid morning and mid afternoon, will avoid the peak burn times. Make sure not to get too much sun. A good indication of too much sun is when the skin turns pink, or is sensitive to the touch. Less is better than too much! Get to know your body and your limitations.
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