Ah, the summer sun is shining and we're all happily busting out our bikinis and bathing trunks in full anticipation of those warm days ahead on the beach, at the pool or on summer holiday. But before you pop open that tube of sunscreen and slather up you should be warned:
There is a major sunscreen scandal in our midst. The dilemma is more than just how much protection we really need or how many hours we may or may not be guarded from harmful rays. There is a lot more bad news brewing and I am here to tell all.
For starters, many, many sunscreens do not provide the UVA protection that they claim on their packaging. Nor are they actually waterproof or contain the SPF level they advertise.
The FDA continues to postpone its regulating of sunscreen companies and their claims. No one is verifying that any particular sunscreen works. Same for lip balms and moisturizers with an SPF label.
Many of the sunscreens that claim to be "all natural" actually are full of petroleum and many other compounds not found in nature. Especially worrisome are the reports about the high SPF sunscreens labeled "especially for babies" or with the word baby in their advertising that have a chemical named oxybenzone in its ingredient list. This is not a healthy choice to slather on your baby!
So what can you do to make healthier and more informed choices about sun safety?
We can all enjoy ourselves this summer in the sun once we feel confident we are slathering on healthy and safe products onto our skin.
Follow Dr. Sharon Ufberg on Twitter: www.twitter.com/DrUfberg
Joanna Dolgoff, M.D.: Is Your Child Vitamin D Deficient?
Keith I. Block, M.D.: Sun, Safety, Sunscreens and Cancer
How to Choose and Use Sunscreen: Expert Advice from REI
DermatologistRx.com : Free Dermatology Advice : Sunscreen
This graph says it all. It is part of a presentation by Dr. Ed Gorham, Cancer Prevention and Control Program, Moores Cancer Center University of California, San Diego. It shows a strong correlation between melanoma incidence and sunscreen sales.
Sunscreen companies are not legally permitted to promote that their products prevent skin cancer. Organizations like the Skin Cancer Foundations lead by dermatologist Dr. Perry Robbins have been created and funded to do it for them.
Check out this link to Skin Cancer Foundations "Corporate Council". No coincidence that sunscreen companies are heavily involved in directing organizations that scare us out of the sun!
http://www.skincancer.org/Corporate-Council.html
Nonmelanoma skin cancers are 97.1% of all yearly skin cancer Ccases. Nonmelanoma skin cancers are being diagnoses more frequently because doctors are looking for them more vigorously than ever before. Nonmelanoma skin cancer is rarely fatal and only 1 in 125,000 Americans will succumb annualy.
Melanoma is strongly connected to family history of same.
Melanoma rates have risen only in the groups that avoid the sun completely or are consistant and regular users of sun blocks.
Austrailia's Slip Slap Slop program resulted in an increase in melanoma cases, especially among regular sun screen users and higher income, better educated people who were more likely to follow the medical advice to wear sun block.
I really love your points of view and cannot agree more.
I am a mother of 2 boys 6 and 9 years old and as a concern parent I do want to keep them safe under the sun BUT chemical-free. Growing up my brothers and I never ever used any kind of sunscreens. All my parents did was had us wear hats and shirts and to stay away from the sun in the hottest spots of the day. And I remember the only thing similar to sunscreen, was sun lotion which was supposed to make you get a "nicer tan".
I feel so sorry everytime I see moms and dads sluttering sunscreen on their sunscreen generation children. We need to educate more parents. We need the sun for our survival. And we need to protect our selves and our children from the sun in a healthy way.
Now with my own children I refuse to spray those harmful chemicals, we have enough chemicals around us so why to spray more on our children's growing bodies?
Dokadow please see my blog and web site and see that I do want to make a difference in the world about healthy sun protection.
http://amisolblog.wordpress.com/
www.ami-sol.com
Fact: Sunscreens are a waste of time and money. It is those nasty ingredient things that create and cause skin cancer.
Having lived in the tropics most of my life, have a healthy tan, work out in the sunshine all day, I cannot understand the people who believe the hype about sunscreens. Back in 1950 and 1960 and 1970, Coppertone (pure natural cocoa butter) was the choice of the day to get a tan along with proper sessions of laying on the beach before getting roasted. The other choice was pure natural coconut oil. In the Mediterranean it was olive oil. No daft sunscreen products containing nasty chemicals. You spent a period in the sun, then a period in the shade. Salt air and sea / ocean water and the breeze will tan you faster than a microwave cooks a joint. When you have started to broil cover yourself with a white shirt, etc., and be sensible. But that's the issue!? People today do not seem to have any sense... and gullibly believe the adverts and commercials for stupid products. Much like all the idiots that bought the latest i-Phone that does not work unless you have an antennae in your head.
But times have changed and we have less protection from the sun's rays than ever before, skin cancers are going up and up....those of us who don't want to have skin riddled with brown patches and flaking and wrinkles and cancers would like a product that isn't going to make things worse. Bring on the real protection and demand the FDA regulate the SPF industry.
As for mineral sunscreens, many of them contain nanoparticles and don't say so on the package. I found one sunscreen by Alba that says on the tube that is does not contain ultra-fine nanoparticles, so I'm using that, but I think their "new and improved" products may contain nanoparticles -- but don't know for sure because there's no way to find out!
Mostly, I just wear my sunhat and long sleeves. The other day I'd forgotten my hat, so I carried an umbrella around in the bright sun. I felt a little silly, but so what? Hey, bring back the parasol, I say.
The remarkable advantage of the Berrynol technology is that it not only filters UV, it also stops the reproduction of cancerous skin cells, while not harming healthy cells. Hopefully, ingredients like this will be designed into future sunscreen products. For research details, see:
www.berrynol.com
For a video presentation of Berrynol at the 2010 WBT (World's Best Technology) Showcase, see:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lg7CqxTF42U
Roy Mankovitz, Director
http://www.MontecitoWellness.com