I was doing some research online the other day to see if there were any new or interesting developments in natural sunscreen or sun care products when I came across Alexandra Zissu’s Ask an Organic Mom blog on the Daily Green web site. That’s where I learned that some of the leading natural personal care companies like Dr. Hauschka and Weleda recently decided to opt out of the sun care product market altogether.
Apparently the European Union has just created new stricter regulations around UV protection in sun care products that would force them to re-formulate their products using synthetic sunscreen filters. These companies, like mine, are committed to making safe, healthy, non-toxic, plant-based products so they are Just Saying ‘No Thanks’ to government regulations based on fear-mongering, inconclusive studies, and incomplete science.
Reading Alexandra’s post Why It’s Harder Than Ever To Find Safe, Natural Sunscreens made me realize what a bind conscientious consumers are in. On the one hand you want to make choices that protect you and your loved ones from danger and harm, on the other hand your choices are limited by government regulations that are often strongly influenced, if not dictated, by large corporate interests, short-sightedness, complicity from the medical (and in this case, dermatology) community, or lack of funds for more research.
Whereas it was once believed that UVB rays (the ones that cause sunburn) were linked to skin cancer, it is now believed that UVA rays are the real culprit and this is the latest driving factor behind sunscreen product development. Unfortunately, there are only a few chemical sunscreens that can protect you from UVA, but as it turns out, they can lead to other cancers because of the free radicals they generate when they absorb and react with the very rays they are designed to protect you from! Sounds like a true case of trading in one poison for another.
I’m putting together a list of the current FDA-approved sunscreen ingredients –the only ones that can be legally claimed as sunscreen in OTC (Over-the-Counter) drugs in the U.S., and will post it here in a few days.
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