the skinny on sunscreens

Skin cancer is the most common of all cancers in the U.S., and as many as one million people are diagnosed with it every year. Despite these high numbers, skin cancer is preventable with proper protection. Even I can be the worst at remembering, but wearing sunscreen is incredibly important for protecting the health and vitality of our largest organ, our skin. A lot of us have no idea where to even start when choosing a sunscreen, as most brands often have falsified claims or do not contain the effective ingredients and protection that you are looking for. When buying sunscreens it is imperative to look for what the active ingredients are, whether it provides broad spectrum protection (UVA and UVB), what the SPF protection rating is, and which ingredients to avoid all together. I know that this sounds like a laundry list, but as you continue to search through sunscreens this summer you will be able to recognize where to look for this information and how to recognize what is good and what is just plain harmful.

Active Ingredients – Look for Minerals
Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide are minerals that physically block ultraviolet (UV) rays from reaching your skin, as opposed to other sunscreens that use chemicals to absorb UV rays. Minerals are considered the best protection against sunburn because they block both UVB rays (which cause sunburns) and UVA rays (which cause skin aging and cancer). Chemical sunscreens, on the other hand, don’t always protect against UVA. Many formulas on the market break down in sunlight in as little as half an hour, while also interfering with your hormonal systems. Look for products that advertise “broad-spectrum protection,” which means it protects against both types – UVA and UVB rays.

Sun Protection Rating – How It Works
SPF (or sun protection factor) is an FDA-regulated rating system that represents how long it will take for exposed skin to burn with the sunscreen applied. The SPF is an imperfect measure of skin damage because invisible damage and skin aging is also caused by the very common ultraviolet type A, which does not cause reddening or pain. Conventional sunscreen does not block UVA as effectively as it does UVB. For that reason, never rely entirely on a sunscreen’s SPF. The SPF of a sunscreen is a laboratory measure of the effectiveness of sunscreen — the higher the SPF, the more protection a sunscreen offers against UV-B (the ultraviolet radiation that causes sunburn). The SPF indicates the time a person with sunscreen applied can be exposed to sunlight before getting sunburn relative to the time a person without sunscreen can be exposed. This is usually 20 minutes in spring, without any sunscreen. On any day, someone who would burn after 12 minutes in the sun would expect to burn after 120 minutes if protected by wearing a sunscreen with an SPF of 10. The protection from a particular sunscreen depends on several factors such as:
1) The skin type of the user.
2) The amount applied and frequency of re-application.
3) Activities in which one engages (for example, swimming leads to a loss of sunscreen from the skin).
4) Amount of sunscreen the skin has absorbed.

Ingredients To Avoid and Why
There are two different types of active sunscreen ingredients: chemical UV absorbers (which absorb rays that come in contact with skin) and physical UV blockers (which reflect rays before they can do any damage). Most of the concerns around sunscreens have to do with the chemical UV absorbers. The same chemicals that interfere with human hormones. According to a 2007 report from the Environmental Working Group, many chemical sunscreens break down in as little as 30 minutes when exposed to sunlight. All of the following chemical sunscreen ingredients have been found to increase skin absorption of pesticides on people who were wearing them during pesticide application: benzophenone, oxybenzone, octinoxate (also called octyl methoxycinnamate), homosalate, Avobenzone (also called Parsol 1789). When paired with harmful active chemical ingredients, sunscreens may also contain many allergenic synthetic dyes and fragrances that contain hormone-disrupting phthalates that are just as common as parabens (preservatives that also act like estrogen in the body) and urea preservatives that emit formaldehyde as they break down.

With help from The Green Guide and the Skin Deep Cosmetic Safety Database- here is a list of sunscreens that are safe for you, your skin and the environment:
Alba Botanica Sun Fragrance-Free Mineral Sunscreen SPF 18
Avalon Organics Baby Avalon Natural Mineral Sunscreen SPF 18
Badger Natural Sunblock SPF 30
California Baby No Fragrance SPF 30 Sunscreen
Devita Solar Body Block SPF 30
Eco Lani Sunscreen SPF 15
Keys Solar Rx Sunblock SPF 30
Lavera Sun Block SPF 40 Neutral
Marie Veronique Organics Creme Du Jour SPF 30
***Soleo Organics SPF 30 Sunscreen
UV Natural Adult SPF 30+ Sunscreen

* Soleo Organics – Declared as the #1 sunscreen by Skin Deep