As a skin cancer survivor I wear sunscreen on a daily basis… So when I see an article about the stuff I tend to pay attention.
That’s what happened when reading through What’s That Smell one day… and I’m really glad I did – Imagine my surprise upon finding out that some manufacturers lie about how much protection a sunscreen will provide its wearer!
Kim links to the Environmental Working Group site and lists the 10 best sunscreens, but you have to go to the EWG’s site, really. They have a Find Your Sunscreen function and a don’t-miss Hall of Shame list along with some interesting information about ingredients and their side effects, such as ‘hormone disruptors’.
Don’t be caught unawares with a product that doesn’t protect like it should as we gear up for summer! In my case it’s a little like closing the barn door after the horse got out, but kids especially should be protected against burning.
2. June 2010 at 8:27 pm
Discovering that site has totally changed the way I look for sunscreen, and the products I will buy. No longer do I look for the “typical” name brands with the highest SPF.
The other thing they talk a lot about are the chemicals in most mainstream sunscreens that get absorbed into the skin. Scary stuff.
2. June 2010 at 8:44 pm
The chemicals… nano whatevers and hormone disruptors… frightening! And they also cover the fact that researchers think some ingredients cause cancer!
You really have to know what you’re buying these days, especially unregulated stuff like that…
3. June 2010 at 9:58 am
Cover up and stay indoors when you can.
3. June 2010 at 10:02 am
Oh, trust me… I sit here on my ass in the A/C as much as I can!!
3. June 2010 at 1:54 pm
I’m not sure what to think of them. I read through their site about good/bad sunscreens, then went to their “9 surprising truths”. *sigh*… make that *double sigh*. Everything is “scientists think” or “scientists believe” – as usual, they are following their own system of what they believe is right – whether that is correct or not, we have no way of knowing. Everything on their site could change 180 degrees next week because a new scientist “thinks” something else…
Whenever the word “may” is used in conjunction with a scare story – I want to start smacking heads against a wall. In other words – they are proclaiming something is harmful, but… don’t quite have the evidence to back it all up and thus fall back on the word “may”. Of course global warmening scientists say the same things as do all the food nannies. ’nuff said there.
Last of all – when they start declaring that Europe is the be all/end all of medical rightness – I start looking with dark suspicion. Okay, so Europe approves all kinds to “other chemicals”… chemicals that supposedly work better than our antiquated American system will allow through… remember though that Europe also approved Thalidomide when the backward Americans thought it needed more study… (for those who don’t know about Thalidomide, just google it)
Since sunscreen is not an immediate life saving necessity (unlike chemotherapy where you might die pretty quick without access to the drugs) I think I would prefer that we study what it is we allow to be used on the skin before letting the Europeans decide that “oh it’s okay”. Considering the amount of sunscreen used in this country – I would also like proof of this “hormone disruption” of which they speak. It’s pretty easy to proclaim such a thing – much harder to prove.
I also have had skin cancer. I live up north so I seldom use sunscreen. I don’t think I’ll die from getting a little sun exposure. I try to stay in shaded areas when possible, where long clothing when possible, and only use sunscreen if I know I’ll be out in the sun for a prolonged time. I have fair skin and I haven’t burned in years. So if I end up with another melanoma, I guess everyone can laugh at me – heh.
In the meantime, I will take the web site advice with the same grain of salt I take all other sites of this type. They might have some good info or… they might be full of hot air. I have no proof either way and neither do they. LOL.
3. June 2010 at 2:02 pm
Well, yes. It’s not the be all, end all authority on sunscreen, just a website. No links to valid research, or anything.
I appreciated a little -and that’s what we got, a little- info on the various sunscreens. It all adds up.
I’ll keep using sunscreen; most of my damage was done early in life, but you never know…
3. June 2010 at 10:28 pm
Since my skin cancer episode I rely on a big hat and wearing clothes. Most of the surrounding citizenry really likes me wearing clothes, BTW, and not just because they give a rat’s patootie if I get skin cancer or not.
4. June 2010 at 7:51 am
I really shouldn’t read your comments while sipping coffee, Peter…!
I’d just been diagnosed with skin cancer when we went to Grand Cayman. I wore a big floppy hat and long sleeves! On a sunny little island! What an idiot I looked, but at that point the cancer paranoia was running strong…
14. June 2010 at 11:55 am
dang. my sunscreen has a big red cirlce and AVOID this product due to health risks.
awesome. I needed this before I re-stocked at BJs last month. that neutrogena stuff aint cheap.
14. June 2010 at 12:30 pm
Thankfully I had two full bottle of Neutrogena. I need to buy a lottery ticket if things are going my way now…