Heads Up! Don’t Use Sunscreens With This In It!

Condensed from an article by Sandee LaMotte for CNN

A recent study by the US Food and Drug Administration reported that there are dangerous chemicals in many sunscreens that we can absorb into our bodies after just one day of use, and they can also cause serious harm the environment. The worst offender according to David Andrews, senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, is oxybenzone. Oxybenzone will absorb into the body at about a 50 to100 times higher concentration than any of the other chemicals they tested. And according to a 2008 government study oxybenzone also showed up in 97% of human urine samples. Research has also found a potential link between oxybenzone and lower testosterone levels in adolescent boys, hormone changes in men, shorter pregnancies and disrupted birth weights in babies, and in rats, disruptions of their endocrine systems. They say that the chemical can mimic the action of natural hormones. 

They also say that the sun safest ingredient to use is zinc oxide because it provides great broad-spectrum protection that protects against both UVA and UVB rays. 

As far as the environment is concerned, according to an article by Harmeet Kaur of CNN Key West, Florida, The Pacific nation of Palau and the state of Hawaii both passed bans on using sunscreens with oxybenzone and octinoxate last year.

Mayor Teri Johnston of Key West said that she believes Key West’s ban will help educate people about the ingredients in the sunscreens they purchase. “After a bold statement from this commission that we ban these two ingredients, there’s not going to be one person who goes into that CVS that doesn’t flip it over and take a look at the ingredients, and then make a personal decision on how they want to handle their sunscreen protection.” To read more, please click here

Back to
BE SUN SAFE

Back to
YOUR SKIN