Are Sunscreen Products Safe?
Chemicals in Sun Protection Creams Present Allergy, Skin Cancer Risk
May 22, 2009
Off to the park in the middle of summer? Don't forget to bring a hat, sunglasses, and sunscreen to protect against the sun's damaging rays. Before leaving, though, make sure to check the label on that sunscreen, or it may be doing more harm than good. Chemicals in everyday sun block lotions can cause anything from acne to skin cancer.
Sun Block Linked with Malignant Melanoma
Although groups like the American Cancer Society recommend sunscreen use to protect against skin cancer, some of the chemicals that show up in most sunscreen products may be just as dangerous as sunburn.
Sunscreen protects skin against two types of carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma. The most dangerous of the common ingredients found in sun blocks are suspected to increase the risk of malignant melanoma, a much more dangerous form of skin cancer. Melanoma is responsible for three quarters of deaths related to skin cancer, and is more common among people who use sunscreen.
Chemicals in Sunscreen
Although every sunscreen brand uses a different mixture of chemicals, there are a few things to watch out for. Chemicals like sodium lauryl sulfate (SLS), DEA, parabens, propylene glycol, and alcohols may be used to emulsify sun block creams and give lotions the right texture. These chemicals are known toxins and several appear on the Environmental Protection Agency's warning lists.
The active ingredients are even worse:
- PABA, used for many years as the first ingredient in most sunscreens, is a mutagen and carginogen, causing damage to human cell DNA.
- Benzophenone, used to absorb UVB rays, is used in industrial processes to create free radicals as a catalyst. When benzophone absorbs UV light, it breaks down into free radicals that age skin and can cause cancer.
- Triethanolamine, another UV blocker, combines with nitrites (often used as preservatives in minute quantities not listed on sunscreen labels) to form carcinogenic nitrosamines.
- In addition to being free radical generators, many of the chemicals used in sunscreens are hormone disruptors and have estrogenic activity in the human body.
Although many companies have replaced the old PABA and benzophenone sunscreens with new, "safer" chemicals, their function in sun block remains the same. These chemicals absorb UV light and, since they can't destroy that energy, the energy is converted in breaking down the chemicals into free radicals. These free radicals are then at liberty to damage skin, causing premature signs of aging and damage to cells that can eventually lead to cancer.
Sun Tanning Dangers versus Oxybenzone and Other Chemical Carcinogens
Tanning certainly presents skin cancer risks and other dangers – but not compared to the potential long term effects of sunscreen use, which may include malignant melanoma and skin aging.
Two studies released in 2007 on the sun block chemical oxybenzone brought attention to the sunscreen issue. One study revealed that 97% of Americans tested were contaminated with oxybenzone, a chemical known to contribute to allergies, cancer, and hormone disruption. Oxybenzone is used in sunscreen products to help other chemicals penetrate the skin, and it remains stored in cells long after use.
The second study showed mothers who were exposed to oxybenzone during pregnancy were more likely to have underweight babies. Oxybenzone is most easily absorbed through facial skin, where sunscreens are used the most, and it has been linked with skin allergy reactions and can affect children much more readily than adults.
In the face of these sunscreen risks, the safest sun protection may be to spend short amounts of time in the sun and allow nature's protection – a gradual, healthy tan – to do its work.
Reference
- DeVita, Sabina, Saving Face: The Scents-able Way to Wrinkle-Free Skin. Brampton, Ontario, Canada, 2002.
- Pickart, Loren, "The Chemical Sunscreen Health Disaster," SkinBiology.com, accessed 20 May 2009.
- Sutton, Rebecca, "CDC: Americans Carry Body Burden of Toxic Sunscreen Chemical," Environmental Working Group, EWC.org, March 2008, accessed 20 May 2009.
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