Beware – your sunscreen may not protect you from skin cancer and may even pose an additional risk …
It is now a well established fact that ultraviolet rays from the sun are only partially filtered out by our ever diminishing ozone layer; that powerful UVA rays and the less powerful UVb rays can cause sunburns and lead to skin cancer.
Historically, wearing light cotton clothing, a good hat with a brim, such as a classic straw hat, and covering your neck with a loose fitting scarf were a common way to stay cool in summer. This seems logical – prevent the rays of the sun from touching you skin and you avoid sunburns, stay more comfortable, and reduce the risk of skin cancer.
We live in a world where we believe that technology will solve all problems and that newer and more expensive items are better. Many manufacturers of sun tan lotions leave you with a potentially false sense of security that by simply applying their products you will be safe. This concept has been fostered by the concept of a SPF number – a number which leaves you to believe that a higher SPF will protect you from the sun more effectively and longer. Just put it on and “DO NOT WORRY?”
This false sense of security may result in people putting these products on and then exposing themselves to the sun for longer periods under the assumption that they will be completely safe. This may NOT be the case.
Exposure to sunlight ages the skin, causes wrinkles, causes the most common forms of skin cancer – basal cell carcinoma, which rarely becomes deadly, and causes squamous cell carcinoma, which can turn deadly about 1 percent of the time
NOTHING IS BETTER THAN USING CLOTHING, UMBRELLAS AND NATURAL SHADE TO AVOIDING EXPOSURE TO DIRECT SUNLIGHT TO PREVENT SKIN CANCER.
Also consider the sun tan lotion that you use both in terms of its potential effects on your health and its effects on the environment.
Early sun tan lotions were a bit messy and typically relied on inorganic particles such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide or a combination of both. These materials have been used in cosmetics for many years and are basically considered safe both for people and for the environment. These materials do tend to wash off when bathing, but they offer PROVEN PROTECTION and have a much lesser environmental impact than many of the “NEWER” sun screen products which contain potentially toxic organic chemicals. However, “NEWER” organic sun screens may not wash off but they do “BREAK DOWN” when they absorb UV, hence they become progressively less effective whereas classic, non water proof sun screen which rely on inorganic particles such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide or a combination of both work well until they wash off… which you can see and remedy!!! The idea that a sun tan lotion can offer “all-day protection”, or even several hours of protection is not reasonable. In addition to the breakdown of many sun screens, the idea of long term protection does not account for sweat and casual rubbing reducing protection.
Groups such as The Environmental Working Group (EWG) have done research that shows 4 out of 5 of the nearly 1,000 sunscreen lotions analyzed offer inadequate protection from the sun or contain harmful chemicals or both. The EWG studies also found that many lotions contained chemicals that would pass quickly and easily into the blood stream such as oxybenzone which only blocks UVA, and was in the urine of people tested. Oxybenzone MAY promote DNA damage in the presence of sunlight, does not filter out deadly UVB rays, so why take a chance with a product which contains this potentially dangerous and partially effective material.
USING A PROVEN SUN SCREEN (a formulation using inorganic particles such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide or a combination of both) ALONG WITH USING CLOTHING, UMBRELLAS AND NATURAL SHADE TO AVOIDING EXPOSURE TO DIRECT SUNLIGHT TO PREVENT SKIN CANCER.
PROTECT YOURSELF, YOUR FAMILY AND THE ENVIRONMENT.
Wayne Conrad
