Could Your Sunscreen Cause Cancer?
A new study suggests good sun protection may not be as straightforward as we thought.
Kelly Sue DeConnick photo
A recent study suggests you'll probably want to be concerned about the chemicals found in most sunscreens. For Idahoans, who mostly live in sunny climes, this is something to pay attention to—especially for those of us who like to spend time outdoors.
For its 2010 report on sunscreens, the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit environmental research and advocacy organization, tested 500 beach and sport sunscreens and recommended only 39. Wow. That’s a mere 8%.
Most of the problems, according to EWG, have to do with exaggerated SPF claims and potentially hazardous ingredients.
The concern with exaggerated SPF claims is that they may encourage people to spend more time in the sun than is wise, suppressing sunburns but leading inadvertently to increased risk of other kinds of skin damage.
Vitamin A in the form of retinyl palmitate is found in 41% of U.S. sunscreens, according to the report. It is a suspected photocarcinogen, meaning that in the presence of sunlight the ingredient may undergo changes resulting in cancer. New data link vitamin A to accelerated growth of skin tumors and lesions.
EWG also has concerns about the 60% of the 500 sunscreens analyzed that contain oxybenzone, a chemical that enters the bloodstream. Oxybenzone is a hormone disruptor.
Curious just how bad EWG thinks your favorite sunscreen is? My usual favorite—which I’d heard was pretty good stuff—rates a 4 on their scale of 10, landing it smack dab in the middle of their “caution” category, thanks to the fact it contains retinyl palmitate. Find out how your own sunscreen rates.
All 39 sunscreens that EWG gave their top rating of “green” for safety and efficacy contain zinc or titanium. For those who wish to avoid nanoscale minerals or don’t like the feel or smell of mineral sunscreens, EWG also provides a list of nonmineral options that fall into their “caution” category.
And, yes, for the morbidly curious, EWG does provide a “hall of shame.”
The full EWG report also discusses what the FDA has and has not been doing for the last 32 years to adequately regulate U.S. sunscreens and describes differences between U.S. and European sunscreens.
