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Now it's the start of the big beach weekend, and many of us will soon begin slathering on the sunscreen to protect ourselves from harmful rays. But how effective and safe is that sunscreen from your local drugstore? CAP has the answer:
Sunscreen: Friend or Foe?
Seeded on Fri Jul 2, 2010 1:02 PM EDT
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- Public Discussion (3)
An Environmental Working Group, or EWG, study in 2009 analyzed 1,796 name-brand sunscreens and found that only 7 percent block both UVA and UVB radiation, remain stable in sunlight, and contain few ingredients with known or suspected health hazards.
The study also claimed that some sunscreen ingredients are absorbed by the blood and linked to toxic effects. These ingredients could release skin-damaging free radicals in sunlight or disrupt hormone systems, and several are strongly linked to allergic reactions, while others may build up in the body or the environment.
- 1 vote
#1 - Fri Jul 2, 2010 1:05 PM EDTA 2006 study from the University of California-Riverside also suggested that certain sunscreen ingredients may cause more free radicals to form.
Other studies look at sunscreen’s environmental effects. A 2007 study published in Environmental Health Perspectives found that at even very low levels of sunscreens can cause coral bleaching by killing zooxanthellae, the algae that form a symbiotic relationship with corals.
In contrast, standards in the EU, Japan and Australia require that sunscreens protect the skin from damaging UVA rays. And in contrast to FDA’s blanket advice to stay out of the sun and always use sunscreen, the American Medical Association recommends 10 minutes of sun exposure before applying sunscreen, to give skin time to make vitamin D (AMA 2008).
- 1 vote
I had a concern from the first time I tried sunscreen on my daughter.
- 1 vote
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