FDA-Approved Sunscreen Ingredients: Do They Cause More Harm Than Good?

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Here’s the list of FDA-approved sunscreen ingredients I’ve compiled so far (if I missed anything obvious, feel free to comment below):

Avobenzone (also known as Parsol 1789)
Cinoxate
Dioxybenzone
Homosalate
Menthyl anthranilate
Mexoryl
Octinoxate (formerly Octyl Methoxycinnamate)
Octocrylene
Octyl Salicylate
Oxybenzone
Padimate O
Phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid
Sulisobenzone
Titanium Dioxide
Trolamine salicylate
Zinc Oxide

Of this list, only two ingredients —Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide— are naturally occurring ingredients. Both are very effective physical UVA and UVB sun blocks because they deflect UV rays away from the skin. All the other ingredients are chemical sunscreens that work by absorbing UVB radiation (the so-called “burning rays”) and then dispersing the energy through chemical reactions –some of which can generate those dreaded “free radicals” that lead to cancer. Free radicals are unstable molecules that cause cellular damage by stealing electrons from healthy cells –a process called oxidation.
The most commonly used of these ingredients are Avobenzone, Octinoxate (formerly Octyl Methoxycinnamate), Octocrylene, Oxybenzone, and Padimate O.
Avobenzone is an oil soluble chemical agent capable of absorbing light throughout the entire UVA spectrum. It is one of the very few comprehensive chemical UVA sunscreens available on the market right now. Its role in protecting skin from the potentially carcinogenic effects of UVA radiation, are what make it the most widely used chemical sunscreen ingredient and the only one approved by the European Union.
Unfortunately, Avobenzone is known in the scientific community as a strong free radical generator that degrades fairly quickly in actual sunlight, rapidly reducing its effectiveness as a sunscreen. Which has to make you wonder … can using this type of sunscreen actually cause more harm than good?

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