Heather Bedard, C.H.E.
Over 60% of Americans wear sunscreen when they expect to be in the sun for an extended period of time.[1] The majority of these sunscreens are made of harmful chemicals that soak into the skin and cause toxic levels of the chemicals to build. Let’s take a look at some of these ingredients.
According to a rule proposed by the federal register, if any of the active ingredients in sunscreen were absorbed and reached a steady plasma level higher than 0.5 ng/mL, toxicology studies should be performed.[2] Let’s see if research show that those studies should be happening. The researchers looked at the four most popular active ingredients in sunscreen: avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene, and ecamsule. The volunteers for the study were kept indoors during the study and did not go in the sun. To mimic typical sunscreen application during the summer months, the volunteers used the sunscreen four times a day for four days and their blood was tested for the presence of the four chemicals daily. Each day, blood concentrations of the chemicals increased, and every single chemical tested reached levels higher than the 0.5 ng/mL threshold by the first day.
One chemical in particular, Oxybenzone peaked at 400 times higher than the levels that they stated would trigger a toxicology investigation. Here’s a fun fact about oxybenzone, it reacts with chlorine (you know the chemical in your swimming pool). It's also in your drinking water and water treatment plants don’t remove all of it from your water.[3] Hmmmm, delicious. 97% of Americans tested have it in their urine.
Oxybenzone as well as benzophene are estrogenic and women who use sunscreens with these chemicals in it have a higher risk of endometriosis.[4] Avobenzone breaks down into known carcinogenic compounds.[5] Octocrylene causes allergic reactions in response to…sunlight.[6]
While the use of sunscreen goes up around the world, the incidence of melanoma continues to increase as well…the very disease it’s intended to prevent.[7] While the diagnosis of skin care goes up, the sun is not the main cause of these diagnosis. According to researchers, the increase in skin cancer is due to increased diagnosis of minimal stage 1 disease.
In their words, “There was no change in the combined incidence of other states of the disease, and the overall mortality only increased from 2.16 to 2.54 cases per 100,000 per year.”[8] The lesions that were found did not correspond to the lesions that would be caused by sun exposure. It would seem that maybe there’s another cause for melanoma than the sunlight we’ve been led to believe.
Furthermore, if you have darker skin, no study exists that shows that sunscreen reduces skin cancer risk.[9],[10] People with darker skin have the same number of melanocytes as lighter skinned people but theirs produces more melanin. This drastically reduces the absorption of UV rays from the sun.[11]
Not only does sunscreen contain harmful chemicals, but it can also make people feel like they are safe to stay in the sun however long they’d like. The truth of the matter is that your body is made with incredible defenses that help to protect you from damage and give you warning signs that you need to do something different.
One of these is the change in your skin color. If you’re starting to get pink, your body has had all it can handle of the sun’s rays, and it is telling you that it’s time to cool off and get in the shade. Ignoring this can result in damage to your skin that may not show up now, but it will in the future.
Sunburn can result in free radicals being released in your body as your body alerts the immune system to begin healing the damage. This is one of the things that DOES increase cancer risk. Using sunscreen does not give you a free ride to be in the sun as long as you’d like. Not to mention, many sunscreens are not giving you the protections you think they are due to the low standards the FDA has for what constitutes a “broad spectrum sunscreen”. Products from Europe have far higher standards for the composition of their sunscreens as well as how effective they are at blocking UV rays and for how long.
Even with “natural” sunscreens like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide you have to apply 1 ounce at least to make any difference. That means for your average sunscreen tube, you should only get 3-6 uses from it. There are some concerns as well with the nanoparticles of titanium dioxide in particular. There is a Be Informed video in our video library on that topic.
One of the most important things to remember would be to listen to your body. Treat it with respect and it will do the same to you. Based on the research not confounded by industry financial incentives, it would seem that your best course of action would be to avoid chemical sunscreen and build up your exposure to the sun over time, gradually increasing the amount of time you can handle being in it without burning.
Be intentional to cover up when in the sun for extended periods of time and stay in the shade or go indoors so that you can avoid sunburn when out for a longer period of time. In addition to this, you can also support your skin by eating an optimal diet full of fruits and veggies that are going to boost your body’s ability to eliminate free radicals caused by the sun and keep your skin at its best.
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[1] https://www.realself.com/news/2020-realself-sun-safety-report [2] https://www.federalregister.gov/documents/2019/02/26/2019-03019/sunscreen-drug-products-for-over-the-counter-human-use [3] DiNardo JC, Downs CA. “Dermatological and environmental toxicological impact of the sunscreen ingredient oxybenzone/benzophenone-3.” J cosmet Dermatol 2018 Feb;17(1):15-19 [4] Kunisue T, Chen Z, Buck Louis GM et al. “Urinary Concentratinos of Benzophenone-type UV Filters in U.S. Women and Their Association with Endometriosis.” Environment Sci Technol 2012;46(8):4624-4632 [5] Wang C”, Kralj MB, Kosmrlj B et al. “Stability and removal of selected avobenxzone’s chlorination products.” Chemosphere 2017 Sept;183:238-244 [6] Karlsson I, Vanden Broecke K, Martensson J, Goossens A, Borje A. “Clinical and experimental studies of octocrylene’s allergenic potency.” Contact Dermatitis 2019 Apr.64(6) [7] Krause M, Kit A, Blomberg JA, et al. “Sunscreens: are they beneficial for health? An overview of endocrine disrupting properties of UV-filters.” Int J Androl 2012 Jun;35(3):424-436 [8] Levell NJ, Beattue CC, Shuster S, Greenberg DC. “Melanoma epidemic: a midsummer night’s dream?” Br J Dermatol 2009 Sep;161(3):630-634 [9] The Conversation May 14 2019 [10] Elde MJ, Weinstock MA. “Association of UV Index, Latitude, and Melanoma Incidence in Nonwhite Populations – US Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results (SEER) Program, 1992-2001.” JAMA Dermatology 2005 Apr;14(4):477-481 [11] Gloster HM, Neal K. “Skin cancer in skin of color.” J Am Acad Dermatol 2006 Nov;55(5):741-760