Choosing the Best Sunscreens—
and Avoiding the Worst
By Sarah
B. Weir | Moments Of
Motherhood
Is your
sunscreen safe?
It's sunscreen shopping season and the just-released 2012 Sunscreen Guide published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) helps
steer consumers toward healthy, affordable choices. This year's guide rates
over 1,800 sunscreens (for both adults and kids), lip balms, and moisturizers
and cosmetics with SPF. The leading cause of skin cancer is exposure to
ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and, according to the National Cancer
Institute, over one million people are diagnosed
a year.
Often people grab whatever sunscreen is labeled with the
highest SPF and assume it's the best. The EWG guide warns shoppers that
choosing a safe product isn't just about the numbers. Their research
spotlights potential
health hazards:
Dangerous ingredients.
Retinyl
palmitate (Vitamin A) may cause tumors and
lesions to develop more quickly when skin is exposed to the sun. Nneka Leiba,
Senior Research Analyst and the guide's lead author, tells Shine, "The FDA
and National Toxicology both say it may heighten risk of skin damage and
cancer." Oxybenzone is linked to hormone disruption and can cause
allergic reactions. EWG recommends choosing products with one of these
ingredients instead: zinc, titanium dioxide, avobenzone, or Mexoryl S.
Sprays or powders.
These formulations can fill the air with tiny particles
that EWG says are dangerous to inhale. They can cause lung
inflammation and may be carcinogenic.
SPF values above 50+.
The
FDA says these labels are misleading and may
encourage people to stay out in the sun for too long. Since SPF is based only
on UVB protection (which prevents sunburn but does not guard against premature
aging and deeper tissue damage), users of super high SPF products often have a
false
sense of security.
Related: The 10
Biggest Skin Mistakes
You Can Make
The guide comes on the heels of a recent announcement by
the Food and Drug Administration
(FDA)that they will give sunscreen manufacturers
an additional six months to comply with guidelines that were that were outlined
in June, 2011 and were aimed to ending confusion about sunscreen labeling. The
FDA guidelines, which were to go into effect June 18, encouraged companies to
use ingredients that protect
against both UVB and UVA rays, required warning
labels on products with lower than an SPF 14 rating, and banned manufacturers
from using unsubstantiated terms such as "waterproof,"
"sunblock," and claims of "
all-day protection."
Since
the FDA guidelines now won't go into effect until long past beach season, the
EWG Sunscreen Guide is your best bet for finding effective products.
EWG's list of worst sunscreens
The EWG
recommends avoiding these sunscreens because they are spays or powders, have
SPF values above 50+, and contain retinyl palmitate and/or oxybenzone.
Best affordable sunscreens
Based on
its analysis of over 800 beach and sport sunscreens, the EWG provided Yahoo!
Shine with its 15 most affordable, recommended products:
All of the above meet the following criteria:
• Good,
stable sun protection
• Fewest
ingredients with toxicity concerns. Do not contain the worst offenders: retinyl
palmitate and oxybenzone.
• No
sprays or powders
• No SPF
values above 50+
Applying sunscreen correctly
It is important to be aware that sunscreen isn't going
provide you with proper protection if you don't apply it correctly, and only
about one
in five people actually do so on a daily
basis.
"Adults
need to apply a palmful [an ounce] of sunscreen every two hours," Leiba
tells Shine. "Don't slather it on once and stay out all day." Leiba
also recommends that you avoid the sun completely from 10AM to 2PM and use a
hat, clothing, and sunglasses as your primary protection.
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