Are Sunscreens Safe?
I remember getting slathered with sunscreen as a kid and absolutely hating it, probably like every kid. But we know it's necessary right? UV/sun exposure contributes to wrinkles, horrible sunburns and cancer, among other things. I had no idea several years ago that there were "baby" sunscreens until my sister got upset with me for putting Coppertone on my 8 month old nephew when I couldn't find his “special” sunscreen. I honestly thought she was quacked out. Five years later I had my own kid, and all of a sudden I started paying more attention to these issues. Of note, it’s still unclear to me if the motive behind “baby sunscreen” is because of their sensitive skin, or because of the concern for chemicals. Regardless, read on to see why the chemicals may be an issue for any of us.
Sunscreens like Coppertone, Neutrogena, and Hawaiian Tropics all contain chemical based products containing Oxybenzone, Octinoxate and Homosalate. These are known hormone disruptors with the worst of the offenders being Oxybenzone (which is present in the most popular sunscreens) (1). Something that struck me about all of this research is how it affects hormones. All hormones are very tightly regulated in the body, with even very small disturbances profoundly affecting the delicate balance. The chemicals listed above cause increased estrogen activity, decreased testosterone and potentially disruption of thyroid hormone receptors (3, 4, 5).
For those of you skeptics, This article explains that oxybenzone doesn't cause "significant" hormone dysregulation, as well as this article. (There are obviously many more out there). They claim not only that it doesn't cause "significant disruption" but also that it is impossible to build up in your system because it is excreted within 24 hours. This article begs to differ as well as this one, which have some convincing evidence to show toxicity is a possibility with low dose exposure over long periods of time.
Still not convinced? You don’t necessarily need to be. If you don’t have any health issues, this is less likely going to impact you. If you struggle with anxiety, depression, “man boobs,” low sex drive, irregular periods, infertility, fatigue etc, it’s worth considering. Think about the term toxic load. If you’re doing everything you can in life to balance your hormones, (aka sleeping 8 hours, decreasing stress levels, eating 8-10 servings of veggies daily, exercising regularly, and using mostly clean products), your body can likely handle the occasional “non-clean” sunscreen.
Another important point to consider, many sunscreens and cosmetics like Roc also add vitamin A (aka retinol) because of its anti-wrinkle property. Women over 30, these are many of the personal skin care products that claim to “reduce the signs of aging.” Just be aware, this has been shown in some studies to increase the number of tumors and how quickly these tumors appear according to this study. When retinol is applied to the skin, it appears to form free radicals which damage the DNA of skin cells.
SO! What do we do about this? Use mineral based sunscreens such as zinc and titanium. They have some great formulations out there now which are much more transparent and make you look less like a whitey pants. You can check out the Environmental Working Group (EWG.org) for more information on the safety of sunscreens and more recommendations. Also avoid sunscreens with vitamin A, and cosmetics with retinol or retinyl esters. Here are some recommendations below.
