Have We Been Brainwashed re: Sunscreen uv?
This topic is hot and debatable as recently experienced on a particular skin care forum regarding the use of sunscreen uv. Some people won’t go outside without it, some use only for long-term exposure to the sun and others refuse to wear it at all, electing instead to wear protective clothes and hats.
It seems, however, that the majority have adopted the use of sunscreen uv as part of a daily skin care regime. There’s a sense of protecting the skin when applied but the question is do sunscreen lotions, sunblocks, really protect? Are all created equal? Do we equate a more effective sunscreen product from preventing harmful UVA rays the higher the number attached to its SPF?
My question, in addition to their efficacy…are sunscreens safe?
Point in case: an environmental research group (EWG) has released their 2010 Sunscreen Guide and found that of the 500 sunscreens they analyzed only 8% were given a thumbs up. That’s 39 out of 500 considered safe and effective. (USA products)
Sunscreen UV: UVB and UVA: Know the Difference
So where’s the hype? Mostly in those sunscreen products assigned an SPF of 50 or higher. And we’re talking well known brands. But what struck me dumbfounded about the EWG report was that of baby sunscreen lotions, again, with a SPF of 50 or higher. As with all sunscreen products in the marketplace they protect from UVB radiation and sunburn, its the exposure of the UVA radiation that should be of serious concern. Why?
The UVA radiation penetrates deeper into the skin causing a different kind of damage to our DNA than UVB radiation does; this UVA radiation is what causes skin aging and cancer. A sense of false security, i.e., no sunburn, allows more time in the sun consequently acquiring more exposure to the bad UVA. Including babies and children.
As the EWG report states, there are sunscreens available which include UVA filters but too many do not do enough to protect against UVA radiation.
Toxic Sunscreen Ingredients
Something new has raised concerns in relation to sunscreen ingredients: a particular form of vitamin A known as retinyl palmitate. Found in 41% of sunscreens, the concern is whether this ingredient “accelerates skin damage and increases the risk of skin cancer when applied to the skin and exposed to sunlight.” New data suggests linking vitamin A to the development of skin tumors and lesions.
The FDA is currently researching this potentially lethal sunscreen cocktail and although evidence against vitamin A is far from conclusive, the EWG is recommending consumers stay clear of sunscreens listing vitamin A or retinyl palmitate.
Another sunscreen ingredient warning is that of oxybenzone. EWG explains, “This hormone-disrupting compound penetrates the skin and enters the bloodstream. The CDC, federal centers for Disease Control and Prevention ran bio-monitoring surveys and found oxybenzone in the bodies of 97 percent of Americans tested.” It is also highly suggested due to its toxicty, not to use sunscreens on children that include this chemical ingredient.
Xtend Life Skin Care Products: Zero Sunscreen uv
As mentioned at the beginning of this post, heated conversations began in a skin care forum about the Xtend Life skin care products not including sunscreen uv. If I choose to wear a sunscreen, I want to apply it when I want, and not have it included in my everyday use of skin care products. Such was, and is, my stance.
I’m one of those people that failed to get taken in by what I considered hyped up marketing over sunscreen uv usage because it was, twenty some years ago, too new a concept, an unknown smorgasbord of variables. And if you read how non aggressive the FDA has been over the last 33 years on the subject of sunscreen, maybe you can appreciate my decision.
Time to get my hat and go for a nice long walk in the sunshine.
Rebe
Do you use sunscreen regularly? Daily? Where is yours on the 2010 Safe Sunscreen List?
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This pretty much looks like a SPAM post to me…no name other than the niche of Contact Paper…hmm. The reason I approved this? Because such a statement as this, ” skin cancer is preventable,” just is not true. There is so much non-sense and mis-information spread about the internet…and often without any mischief or agenda behind it but there it is nonetheless. I encourage readers…to not believe something as truth just because it was heard on the evening news, read in a newspaper or magazine…or a blog!
skin cancer is preventable, just use sunblock and also take lots of anti-oxidants”~”
skin cancer is rarer than colon cancer but just as deadly-;’