Sun or Sunscreen - be informed

Submitted by support on Tue, 04/24/2012 - 03:06

Sun or Sunscreen – which is more harmful? (for more info click here)

The media has told us for years to wear sunscreen – yet increasing numbers of scientific studies tell us that sunscreens are detrimental both in what they do as well as in their ingredients? So what do we do? Lets look at the data.

1) The EWG (Environmental Working Group) claims that more than 84% of sun screen lotions with high SPF levels actually failed to protect sunbathers against all harmful rays, they quickly lose their effectiveness, or their chemical ingredients do more harm than good.

It’s also found that sun care industry in order to provide higher SPF levels in sunscreens, increases the chemical compounds in sunscreen to allow prolonged safe exposure to the suns rays. That way it can be more harmful.

2) The British Medical Journal recently showed that sunbathers using some suntan lotions have a higher risk of developing malignant Skin Cancer, and a possible link with Oxybenzone. Oxybenzone is the Chemical used in many sun products with high Sun Protection Factors.

Oxybenzone’s function is to ‘filter’ ultra violet light on the surface of the skin, converting it from light to heat, but it can also be absorbed through the skin. As yet we have not seen any research to indicate what happens when the oxybenzone is absorbed through the skin, but UV light causing cell damage is well known and readers may choose to avoid this form of sun protection. If light is converted to heat in the basal layers of the skin, damage to growing cells is very likely.

Environmental + Health News May 98 reports that scientists at the Memorial Sloan Cancer centre N.Y., U.S.A. and the U.S Government Brookhaven Laboratory have found that sunscreens protected against sunburn and cancers like Carcinoma, but not against Melanoma which has increased twenty fold in Europe and U.S.A. since 1935.

Environmental + Health News also reports that Oxford University scientist John Knowland shows that PABA* seemed to damage DNA, thus increasing the risk of skin cancer. He recommends using non-PABA products.

*Para-amino-benzoic acid is very common and works by absorbing UV rays in much the same way as oxybenzone.

http://www.natural-health-information-centre.com/paba-oxybenzone.html

3) Wikipedia: Researchers found that ingredients present in many sunscreens are damaging in nature. The major toxic ingredients are:

Oxybenzone - 60% of sunscreens in the market contain this toxic material. It blocks radiation, but penetrates in skin to fairly large amounts, and is a potential hormone disruptor.

Jane Houlihan, senior vice president of research at EWG says that it’s not known that oxybeneze might affect people when it gets in our bodies; it is known it penetrates the skin very readily. It’s found in almost all Americans, so we know people are exposed. But studies haven’t been done to know exactly what that means. FDA was neutral on the comment and said that they have conducted no research on oxybenzone.

Retinyl palmitate, or Vitamin A - New data from the FDA suggests this ingredient, when you put it on the skin, accelerates the growth of skin tumors and lesions. (1)

One of the studies on Wikipedia states: Another study analyzed the topical application of oxybenzone on humans: "In this study, we sought to determine whether sufficient topically applied sunscreens penetrated into human viable epidermis to put the local keratinocyte cell populations at risk of toxicity. The penetration and retention of five commonly used sunscreen agents (avobenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, oxybenzone and padimate O) in human skin was evaluated after application...It is concluded that the human viable epidermal levels of sunscreens are too low to cause any significant toxicity to the underlying human keratin."[2]

4) As you may know, wearing a sunscreen on your uncovered skin blocks your body's production of vitamin D. In fact, sunscreens reduce vitamin D production by as much as 97.5 to 99.9%. And interfering with your body's production of vitamin D by 97.5 to 99.9% may have dire health consequences.

After all, vitamin D plays a crucial role in your overall health and well-being. For example, this superb vitamin is known to:

  • Support your cardiovascular health
  • Promote optimal cholesterol levels
  • Enhance your muscle strength
  • Help produce optimal blood pressure levels
  • Help maintain a healthy immune system
  • Support healthy kidney function
  • Promote healthy teeth
  • Help keep your bones strong and healthy

Please understand -- this list of important benefits represents a tiny fraction of the ways vitamin D keeps you healthy and fit. And, although you can get vitamin D from natural food sources, experts agree on one thing. …

Dump it in the trash now . Yes, that's right. Toss your sunscreen in the trash if it contains any of these questionable chemicals:

  • Para amino benzoic acid...
  • Octyl salicyclate...
  • Avobenzone...
  • Oxybenzone...
  • Cinoxate...
  • Padimate O...
  • Dioxybenzone...
  • Phenylbenzimidazole...
  • Homosalate...
  • Sulisobenzone...
  • Menthyl anthranilate...
  • Trolamine salicyclate...
  • Octocrylene...

And, oh yes, let me not forget...

Potentially harmful chemicals such as dioxybenzone and oxybenzone (two chemicals I just mentioned) are some of the most powerful free radical generators known to man!

So if your sunscreen contains dioxybenzone, oxybenzone, or any of the other chemicals I just revealed, I highly recommend you switch to a formula that is safe and healthy for your skin.

And a note to moms ... You are undoubtedly very conscientious about caring for your children. But when you lather up your son or daughter with sunscreen thinking you're doing the right thing, you could in fact be doing more harm than good.

So check the labels on your sunscreen, and throw them out if they contain any of the potentially dangerous chemicals named above. After all, your skin is your largest organ, as your child's skin is theirs

http://products.mercola.com/summer-survival-kit/

5) Sunscreening agents approved by the US FDA or other agencies 

UVA: 400–315 nm • UVB: 315–290 nm • chemical agents unless otherwise noted

 UVA filters Avobenzone (Parsol 1789) • Bisdisulizole disodium (Neo Heliopan AP) • Diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate (Uvinul A Plus) • Ecamsule (Mexoryl SX) • Methyl anthranilate

 UVB filters 4-Aminobenzoic acid (PABA) • Cinoxate • Ethylhexyl triazone (Uvinul T 150) • Homosalate • 4-Methylbenzylidene camphor (Parsol 5000) • Octyl methoxycinnamate (Octinoxate) • Octyl salicylate (Octisalate) • Padimate O (Escalol 507) • Phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid (Ensulizole) • Polysilicone-15 (Parsol SLX) • Trolamine salicylate

 UVA+UVB filters Bemotrizinol (Tinosorb S) • Benzophenones 1–12 • Dioxybenzone • Drometrizole trisiloxane (Mexoryl XL) • Iscotrizinol (Uvasorb HEB) • Octocrylene • Oxybenzone (Eusolex 4360) • Sulisobenzone • hybrid (chemical/physical): Bisoctrizole (Tinosorb M) • physical: Titanium dioxide, Zinc oxide

Taken from Wikipedia.

References:

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