When I go to my masters swim several times per week, many of my fellow athletes, as well as kids and moms who are there to swim at the pool for fun, are dousing themselves in chemicals without really thinking about what they’re doing. How so? Sunscreen.
We know that being safe in the sun isn’t as easy as it used to be. According to experts, the ozone layer is depleted by up to 65 percent, which can allow large amounts of ultraviolet B rays to reach Earth, causing skin cancer, and cataracts in humans and animals. And, with skin cancer being the most common cancer—about 5.4 million basal and squamous cell skin cancers are diagnosed each year—it’s no wonder we’re told to stay the heck out of the sun for too long, and when we’re in it, to cover up from head to toe.
People are listening. The sunscreen market generates $686.2 million in annual revenue and accounts for 59.4 percent of the entire suncare market In the U.S. The problem is, we don’t know exactly what we’re putting all over our skin, on our lips, our ears . . . and on our kids! Sure, we might assume that the tried-and-true brands we’ve loved and used for years are safe and reliable, since they’re familiar and comfortable, but this raises the very same question I often ask when I’m writing about what we’re eating: “Do we really know what’s in it?”
No, we really don’t. Even if we’re reading labels, half the time we’re not sure what we’re looking for, and we’re trusting words like “natural” or “organic” to confirm our choices are good ones. With sunscreen, most of us aren’t even reading past the SPF number.
Consider the following.
A few years ago, Consumer Reports issued a list of their top four sunscreen lotions and top two sprays, intended to be used by people of all ages. They tested to see if the purported SPF on the labels was accurate, but nothing more. So, for curiosity, I decided to check into it myself, using the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep Database,which ranks skincare, sunscreen, makeup, haircare—all of it—on a scale of 1 to 10 for ingredient hazard score (10 being the most dangerous), for known and suspected hazardous ingredients. Four of those top six sunscreens ranked a 7.
Here are the full results.
LOTIONS
- La Roche-Posay’s Anthelios 60 Melt-In Sunscreen Milk, $36.00. EWG ranks it a 7 (high).
- Vichy Capital Soleil 50, $28.50. EWG ranks it a 5 (moderate).
- Coppertone Water Babies SPF 50, $10.50. EWG ranks it a 5 (moderate).
- Equate Ultra Protection SPF 50, a Walmart brand, $9.00. EWG ranks it a 7 (high).
SPRAYS
- Banana Boat Sun Comfort Continuous Spray SPF 50+, $11.00. EWG ranks it a 7 (high).
L’Oreal Quick Dry Sheer Finish 50+, $11.00. EWG ranks it a 7 (high).
By doing a quick search on the Skin Deep Database, anyone can see for themselves that even the most popular, highest-end products contain dangerous chemicals that are dangerous for us.
So how do you choose a safe, effective sunscreen for your family?
Let’s start with some basics—from the EWG’s report “The Trouble With Oxybenzone and Other Sunscreen Chemicals”:
The most common sunscreens on the market contain chemical filters. These products typically include a combination of two to six of these active ingredients: oxybenzone, avobenzone, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate and octinoxate. Mineral sunscreens use zinc oxide and/or titanium dioxide. A handful of products combine zinc oxide with chemical filters.
Lab studies indicate that some chemical UV filters may mimic hormones or cause skin allergies, which raises important questions about unintended effects on human health from frequent sunscreen application. The most worrisome is oxybenzone, added to nearly 70 percent of the non-mineral sunscreens in EWG’s 2016 sunscreen database.
In addition to oxybenzone, which ranks a dangerous 8 with the EWG and acts like estrogen in the body, alters sperm production in animals, and is associated with endometriosis in women and relatively high rates of skin allergy, you should also be on the lookout for:
Octinoxate (Octylmethoxycinnamate) (EWG ranks this a 6)
Hormone-like activity; reproductive system; thyroid and behavioral alterations in animal studies; moderate rates of skin allergy.
Homosalate (EWG ranks this a 4)
Disrupts estrogen, androgen and progesterone and and breaks down into toxic residue in the body.
Of course, even if your sunscreen doesn’t have these three common offenders, don’t assume it’s safe to use. Protect yourself and your family by running through the ingredients one by one using the Skin Deep Database.
Remember, what you put on your body is just as important as what you put in it.
References
- “Ozone Depletion.” National Geographic. http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-warming/ozone-depletion-overview/
- “Skin Cancer Facts.” American Cancer Society. http://www.cancer.org/cancer/cancercauses/sunanduvexposure/skin-cancer-facts.
- Harris, A. “Sunscreen Market Presentation.” Prezi. 6 Nov 2012. https://prezi.com/-u8rsry5h57w/sunscreen-market-presentation/
- “EWG’s Skin Deep Cosmetics Database.” EWG. http://www.ewg.org/skindeep/
- “The Trouble With Oxybenzone and Other Sunscreen Chemicals.” EWG. https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/report/the-trouble-with-sunscreen-chemicals/
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