Delta4Embassy
Gold Member
Kinda off-season but useful info nonetheless.
Avoid sunscreens with potentially harmful ingredients, group warns - CNN.com
"Toxic ingredients?
The Environmental Working Group says 56% of beach and sport sunscreens contain the chemical oxybenzone. The primary function of oxybenzone is to absorb ultraviolet light, but some research shows oxybenzone can be absorbed through the skin.
The Environmental Working Group and other toxicology experts believe that oxybenzone is linked to hormone disruption and potentially to cell damage that may lead to skin cancer.
The American Academy of Dermatology says oxybenzone is safe.
"Oxybenzone is one of the few FDA-approved ingredients that provides effective broad spectrum protection from UV radiation, and has been approved for use since 1978," said Dr. Daniel M. Siegel, president of the academy.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved oxybenzone in sunscreen for use on children older than 6 months.
"We will continue to push for better options every year. We're trying to fill the gap where the FDA has failed," said Leiba.
The Environmental Working Group also warns consumers to avoid retinyl palminate.
Government-funded studies have found that this particular type of vitamin A may increase risk of skin cancer when used on sun-exposed skin. However, these reports have been in mice and evidence has been inconclusive for humans.
"Consumers get frustrated when there are no alternatives, but the point of this is that you don't have to be completely disheartened, because there are products on the market that don't contain these chemicals," said Leiba."
This isn't news to me so much as confirmation of what I've always assumed - for sunscreens/blocks (diff is screens absorb, blocks reflect) to provide their protection they use chemicals which in all likelyhood are damaging in and of themselves. And anything you smear or rub into your skin is being partially absorbed through pores into your bloodstream. So don't do thtat, duh. EPA and FDA approve many things that are actually quite dangerous as class action lawsuits later reveal. So instead of relying on chemistry to keep you safe(er) use your commons ense instead and avoid UV-intense parts of the day (usually 11am to about 5pm) and if you wanna go out bareskin to swim or something,w ait until the UV isn't at risky-level.
I went the entire summer sans sunblocks since knowing when local UV risk was highest I simply avoided going out. Kinda redundant now, UV being seasonal and low now, but this is the site I used.
UV Index | UV Forecast
Enter zipcode and it'll tell ya when UV is highest hour by hour. Skim the various info pages too for useful things like this,
"UV radiation levels are highest under cloudless skies but even with cloud cover UV radiation levels can be high. Scattering can have the same effect as the reflection by different surfaces and thus increase total UV radiation levels.
Haze in the atmosphere can even increase UV radiation exposure.
It is a common misconception that you can't get burnt on a cloudy day. You can! In fact, up to 80% of solar UV radiation can penetrate light cloud cover."
Avoid sunscreens with potentially harmful ingredients, group warns - CNN.com
"Toxic ingredients?
The Environmental Working Group says 56% of beach and sport sunscreens contain the chemical oxybenzone. The primary function of oxybenzone is to absorb ultraviolet light, but some research shows oxybenzone can be absorbed through the skin.
The Environmental Working Group and other toxicology experts believe that oxybenzone is linked to hormone disruption and potentially to cell damage that may lead to skin cancer.
The American Academy of Dermatology says oxybenzone is safe.
"Oxybenzone is one of the few FDA-approved ingredients that provides effective broad spectrum protection from UV radiation, and has been approved for use since 1978," said Dr. Daniel M. Siegel, president of the academy.
The Food and Drug Administration has approved oxybenzone in sunscreen for use on children older than 6 months.
"We will continue to push for better options every year. We're trying to fill the gap where the FDA has failed," said Leiba.
The Environmental Working Group also warns consumers to avoid retinyl palminate.
Government-funded studies have found that this particular type of vitamin A may increase risk of skin cancer when used on sun-exposed skin. However, these reports have been in mice and evidence has been inconclusive for humans.
"Consumers get frustrated when there are no alternatives, but the point of this is that you don't have to be completely disheartened, because there are products on the market that don't contain these chemicals," said Leiba."
This isn't news to me so much as confirmation of what I've always assumed - for sunscreens/blocks (diff is screens absorb, blocks reflect) to provide their protection they use chemicals which in all likelyhood are damaging in and of themselves. And anything you smear or rub into your skin is being partially absorbed through pores into your bloodstream. So don't do thtat, duh. EPA and FDA approve many things that are actually quite dangerous as class action lawsuits later reveal. So instead of relying on chemistry to keep you safe(er) use your commons ense instead and avoid UV-intense parts of the day (usually 11am to about 5pm) and if you wanna go out bareskin to swim or something,w ait until the UV isn't at risky-level.
I went the entire summer sans sunblocks since knowing when local UV risk was highest I simply avoided going out. Kinda redundant now, UV being seasonal and low now, but this is the site I used.
UV Index | UV Forecast
Enter zipcode and it'll tell ya when UV is highest hour by hour. Skim the various info pages too for useful things like this,
"UV radiation levels are highest under cloudless skies but even with cloud cover UV radiation levels can be high. Scattering can have the same effect as the reflection by different surfaces and thus increase total UV radiation levels.
Haze in the atmosphere can even increase UV radiation exposure.
It is a common misconception that you can't get burnt on a cloudy day. You can! In fact, up to 80% of solar UV radiation can penetrate light cloud cover."
