Promising Research on Natural Sunscreen Ingredients: Caffeine and Coral Shown to Protect Against UV Damage

July 31, 2012 by Leave a Comment

If you follow my blog regularly, you already know how I feel about most of the sunscreen sold in stores. I believe that at best, most of the formulas are not as effective at protecting your skin as large companies want you to believe. At worst, they can actually do more harm than good. Thankfully, there has been a push in the scientific community to find a sunscreen that don’t potentially poison the body with synthetic chemicals.

A number of studies conducted within just the last year have found new sources of skin care ingredients. One of the most promising of these studies was done by Rutgers University, where researchers studied the effects of caffeine on cancer caused by UV rays. Though caffeine was already shown to protect against UV-induced cancer when taken orally, this research focused on the topical effects of the famous stimulant.

The Rutgers researchers used mice to determine the effectiveness of caffeine when applied to the skin and found that it reduced the likelihood of cancer by 72%. It appears that caffeine offers similar protection to humans too. Numerous studies have found that regular coffee drinkers had fewer occurrences of skin cancer than those who drank decaf coffee or avoided coffee all together. Great news for habitual coffee drinkers (like me!).

Caffeine isn’t the only thing that researchers have been investigating when looking for new ways to protect the skin. Research done by Dr. Paul Long at King’s College London has focused on coral and how it manages to get all the sunlight it needs to thrive without burning. Because coral needs sunlight for photosynthesis, it must live in shallow water where it is vulnerable to overexposure.

It turns out that algae living within coral reefs create a compound that is transported to the coral. The coral then modifies this compound to create its own sunscreen which protects both the coral and the algae. One of the long-term goals of King’s research is to figure out if this compound can be used to manufacturer sunscreen for human use. Dr. Long sees his research as also having humanitarian potential, saying “If we [can grow this compound] in crop plants have been bred for high yield . . . this could be a way of providing a sustainable nutrient-rich food source, particularly in need for Third World economies.”

If you could buy a sunscreen made from all-natural ingredients instead of the processed, chemical-ridden stuff sold by most companies, wouldn’t you? I know I would! Does the idea of putting coral or even algae on your skin sound too weird? Let us know what you think below.

If you’re interested in making your own all-natural sunscreen, see our last post.

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The FDA’s New Sunscreen Guidelines: Will They Really Help?

July 22, 2012 by Leave a Comment

Whether you’re headed to the beach or just playing in the sun, you should always use some form of sun protection such as protective clothing or sunscreen. But the way you shop for sunscreen is changing; the Food and Drug Administration has rolled out new guidelines for the labels you find on sunscreens. While sunscreen manufacturers have until the winter to comply with these guidelines, some have already begun to offer products with new labels.

The new labeling is intended to make it easier for consumers to choose the right sunscreen by creating standards for sunscreen labels as well as encourage manufacturers to move in the direction of making more Broad Spectrum products. Under the new guidelines:

  • Only products that protect against both types of UV radiation (UVA and UVB) and have an SPF 15 or higher can be labeled as “Broad Spectrum” sunscreen. Broad spectrum products offer the best protection from UVB-induced sunburn as well as premature aging and skin cancer believed to be caused by UVA exposure.
  • Products that claim to be “water resistant” must clearly indicate on the front of the bottle how long a user can expect to receive the declared SPF level of protection while sweating or swimming. Only one of two times are permitted on the labels: either 40 or 80 minutes.
  • Manufacturers can no longer make claims that their sunscreens are “sweatproof” or “waterproof,” nor can they identify their products as “sunblocks.” They also cannot claim that their products offer “instant protection” or protection for more than two hours without being re-applied.

 

Click to view the FDA's video on new sunscreen regulations

 

You can learn more about UVA and UVB radiation here.

You can find the full FDA guidelines and more here .

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The Precautionary Principle Run Amok: Walking a Fine Line …

August 14, 2010 by Leave a Comment

As a member of the Safe Cosmetics Campaign and a participant in the Environmental Working Group’s Skin Deep cosmetics database, I support and applaud these organizations efforts to bring some reform to the way cosmetics and personal care products are formulated -especially in the case where products are still being made with known toxins. With the recent introduction of the Safe Cosmetics Act of 2010, they are clearly making some significant strides in moving their agenda forward.

This is important work because of the potential benefits and protection it could provide consumers who are at present like experimental subjects in the giant petri dish that comprises the $35 billion a year beauty and personal care industry (often ironically referred to as HABA or HBA which is shorthand for Health and Beauty).

However as a small manufacturer who is working hard and diligently to make safe and effective products I sometimes wonder if, in spite of their best intentions, they are on a course that will soon run amok. What I mean is as they continue to gain credibility as an independent authority on the subject (and right now they are pretty much the ONLY independent authority on the subject) they will begin to wield real power or market clout that can have an impact on consumers perceptions of what’s safe and what’s not. And that is not something to be taken lightly.

While these are the “good guys” looking out for your health and safety, at the end of the day they are NGOs (non-governmental organizations) that have neither the scientific backing nor the funding to legitimately substantiate all the red flags they are continually raising. They are walking a fine line now between fear-mongering and agitating for meaningful change.

The latest red flag is the finding from a 2009 FDA study that the ingredient Retinyl Palmitate, which is a synthetic form of Vitamin A found in many skin care products and apparently widely used in sunscreens as well, may actually speed the development of cancer, even when present in low doses. The industry puts Vitamin A in its formulations because it is an anti-oxidant that slows skin aging. It seems that if you use these products at night or indoors you’re ok but if you go out into the sun after applying them you may be in big trouble.

This is not an insignificant finding, however I have to wonder what must be going on in the average consumer’s head when they hear this. In its 2010 Sunscreen Guide, the EWG recommends that consumers avoid all sunscreen products with this ingredient. If more than 40% of sun products contain it then that doesn’t leave a lot of options to choose from. Basically, out of 1400 products with sunscreen that were assessed, the EWG identified only 39 products that were worthy of their coveted “green” rating and all of those products used zinc or titanium oxide (sun blocks) as their primary ingredients.

It reminds me of the story of the boy who cried wolf. If day in and day out, all we hear is more bad news about cancer-causing ingredients and products and little or no useful or better alternatives we can trust, then we might as well all slit our wrists and jump off a cliff now and get it over with! I’m being facetious of course. But my point is if this is all that’s presented to us, eventually fatigue will set in and we will stop listening and that’s not good for anyone. This is one of my fears about what might happen if the EWG continues to lead us down this rabbit hole.

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What We Still Don’t Know About Sunscreens: A Running Debate

August 12, 2010 by Leave a Comment

As I mentioned in my last post, about the only thing that seems to have changed with respect to the state of sunscreens and sun safety products is that the mainstream media is starting to pay more attention to this issue and take a frank look at what needs to be done.

The New York Times appears to have taken the lead here with its recent Room for Debate blog: What We Still Don’t Know About Sunscreens. In Room for Debate, The Times invites knowledgeable outside contributors to discuss news events and other timely issues. For this conversation, the Times convened the following contributors:

  • Darrell S. Rigel, Clinical Professor of Dermatology
  • Sonya Lunder, Environmental Working Group
  • Michael K. Hansen, Consumers Union
  • Kerry Hanson, Chemist, University of California, Riverside
  • Lenora Felderman, Dermatologist

Darrell Rigel tackles the subject of better labeling and better ingredients. Apparently in the U.S. there are only 17 approved sunscreen agents, while Europe has 28, and Japan has more than 40. He blames the FDA for lagging in formally approving regulations and feels that rather than wait until they can come up with their own standards for testing UVA that we simply adopt the same standards as Europe has.

Sonya Lunder looks at an alarming new finding: the use of Vitamin A (in the synthetic form of Retinyl Palmitate) in sun care products may be accelerating the development of skin lesions and tumors when applied in the presence of sunlight! According to Lunder, this ingredient can be found in a whopping 40% (almost half!) of sunscreens used in the U.S.

Michael Hansen takes the FDA to task for not being more aggressive in demanding and enforcing the use of warnings on product labels that would clarify which products provide actual protect against UVA. A product may have a high SPF which means it protects against UVB radiation but that doesn’t mean it protects against UVA. He also feels that the FDA should more thoroughly investigate the health concerns that have been raised about various sunscreen ingredients.

Kerry Hanson questions whether our current concept of sun care protection needs to be redefined given what we’ve learned about the difference between UVB and UVA exposures and their respective roles in causing or promoting skin cancer. Since companies don’t have the substantial resources needed to fund the research (or the proper impartiality), there’s an opportunity for government agencies like the FDA, National Science Foundation, and the NIH to jump in and take the lead.

Lenora Felderman laments the false sense of security that sunscreens provide and echoes the other contributors’ call for better and more responsible action by the FDA.

Since it was posted on July 5th, this has generated over 200 comments. You can read the full discussions here and add your comments as well.

What do you think the FDA’s top priorities in this area should be?

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Update on the State of Sunscreens: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same!

August 10, 2010 by Leave a Comment

Every year around this time of the year, I scan industry trade rags and do some searching on the Internet in an attempt to find out what’s new in the market for sunscreens. And every year I marvel at how some things never seem to change! In fact they appear to be getting worse!

In spite of a growing body of increasingly credible evidence that turns everything we’ve been led to believe about sunscreens over the years on its head, companies are still producing essentially the same products, and packaging and marketing them in increasingly deceptive ways. Caveat emptor (buyer beware!) …

The FDA still hasn’t formally issued its new rules and guidelines for sunscreens with respect to UVA testing and labeling, which were informally adopted back in 2007 after an exhaustive 9-year review. This was supposed to happen in May and now the word is that it will happen later this year, probably in October. And in spite of the fact that there’s no consensus on whether sunscreens prevent skin cancer, and the discovery that some sunscreen ingredients might actually increase our risk of getting melanoma (the deadliest form of skin cancer), women’s magazines, sun product manufacturers, and dermatologists still relentlessly and religiously repeat the mantra to wear sunscreen whenever we go outside, or avoid any exposure to the sun. Are they really that blind to their hypocrisy or are they waiting for a larger force (i.e. the FDA) to force them to sit up and fly straight?

Most experts agree that people should use sunscreens to protect their skin from the sun, but they disagree widely on how well they actually work. There’s so much conflicting information and outright disinformation on the subject how can anyone make a reasonable decision about what products to use? The simple fact is that sunscreens were never developed to prevent skin cancer. They were (and continue to be) designed primarily to prevent sunburn. And even though SPF ratings are notoriously unreliable people continue to mistakenly believe that using higher SPFs buys them a lot more time in the sun without risk, so sun care companies keep coming out with higher and higher SPFs. We’ve hit a new high (or new low depending on how you look at it) with SPF 100!

Almost in defiance of the FDA’s proposed regulation, these companies substantially increased their high-SPF offerings this year. According to the Environmental Working Group’s analysis of nearly 500 beach and sport sunscreens, nearly one in six products now lists SPF values higher than 50, compared to only one in the prior eight years. Neutrogena has six products labeled “SPF 100,” and Banana Boat has four.

About the only thing I can see that has changed is that more mainstream media are finally starting to question the safety of sun care products.

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Let the Sun Shine In: The Benefits of Going Bare in the Sun

September 22, 2009 by Leave a Comment

Are you avoiding the sun for fear of getting skin cancer? If yes, then you’re not alone. I’ve posted a lot lately about skin cancer and sun safety because I feel there’s a lot of confusion and misinformation on the subject that is affecting the behavior and choices of most people –though not necessarily in a good way.

My philosophy in life is everything in moderation and that goes for sun protection too. The media, dermatologists, and some doctors have been hammering in the message that any exposure to the sun is unsafe and so you shouldn’t ever go out in the sun without some form of protection or you risk getting skin cancer. This in my humble opinion is a gross exaggeration and frankly a little irresponsible.

Why are there so few voices out there touting the benefits of the sun and the importance of finding a balance between getting enough exposure, without putting your self at risk?

The cynic in me would say there’s no money to be made by encouraging people to get some sun, but there is a ton of money to be made from scaring people into believing they should wear sunscreen as a second skin –after all, the companies that make sunscreen products depend on this fear for their livelihood and prosperity!

Fortunately, there are a few doctors and researchers out there providing a voice of reason on this subject. One key proponent of responsible sun exposure is Michael F. Holick, PhD, MD, who authored book called book “The UV Advantage.” In his book Holick cites more than 120 peer-reviewed studies that demonstrate moderate exposure to UV light will give the body the Vitamin D it needs without significant skin damage.

What many people may not know is that our bodies use sun light to create Vitamin D — a key nutrient we need to fight a variety of diseases including diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis, high blood pressure, and some forms of cancers like breast, prostate and colon cancer. Recent studies suggest your body needs up to 1000 mg of D per day to cut the potential risk for ovarian, colon, and breast cancer in half. Without sun exposure, that’s hard to do with diet and supplements alone.

Holick says that slathering SPF 15 sunscreen all over your body (about 1 oz) prevents its ability to make Vitamin D by 95%. That’s because all sunscreens are designed to block UVB rays, which are the ones we need to make Vitamin D.

For that reason everyone needs a little unprotected time in the sun, depending on the latitude, time of day, season, and their skin type (degree of skin pigmentation), which he covers in his book in detail. To be sure you’re getting enough sun –but not too much … estimate how long it will take you to get a mild sunburn (i.e. 20 minutes); divide that by 4 (i.e. 5 minutes). Two or three times a week, expose your face, hands, and arms, or legs, for that amount of time, then apply a broad spectrum sunscreen of at least SPF15.

With the arrival of fall and subsequently winter here in the U.S., the intensity of the sun’s rays will be much lower than they are in the summer –even during the peak hours of 10 AM to 2 PM. So don’t be afraid to let the sun shine in!

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Skin Cancer & Sun Damage: What You Really Need to Know

August 24, 2009 by Leave a Comment

The prospect of getting skin cancer is frightening for anyone. If the prognoses of doctors, dermatologists, beauty magazines and the media in general are to be believed, everyone is at risk. And yet, there’s no hard scientific evidence that this is true. In fact, there’s a growing consensus in the medical community that the anti-sun rhetoric that’s had everyone slathering on sunscreen every time they step outside, has been over-stated.

It helps to know as much as you can to make an educated guess as to the best options for minimizing the risk for yourself and your loved ones. Here’s a summary of what I know now (and you should too):

  • Exposure to the sun without any form of protection leads to sunburn from UVB radiation. The more sunburns you get the greater your likelihood of developing skin cancer.
  • Sunburns and UVB radiation were considered to be the primary risk factor for skin cancer but now evidence suggests that UVA radiation plays a much bigger role in both skin cancer and premature aging.
  • Until recently, most sunscreens were developed to either physically block or chemically disperse UVB rays. Though many sun protection products have been reformulated to include some UVA protection the only ingredients that are known to be photo stable and effectively block out both types of UV rays are Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide in the form of sun blocks.
  • UVB radiation is the way that our bodies utilize solar energy to convert it into vitamin D, which has been studied and found to be a key nutrient for keeping bones and teeth strong. A deficiency in vitamin D has been linked to other types of cancer including breast, prostate and colon cancers. Overuse of sunscreens blocks our bodies’ ability to synthesize this vital nutrient.
  • There is sufficient evidence to indicate that a variety of antioxidants that when taken both orally via diet & supplementation, and topically can significantly reduce the damaging effects of UV radiation.
  • There are three types of skin cancer: Basal Cell, Squamous Cell, and Melanoma. Basal Cell is the most common of skin cancers and it’s the most easily treated and least likely to spread. Squamous cell is also easily treated if detected early, but it’s slightly more apt to spread. Melanoma is the most serious form of skin cancer and the one responsible for the most skin cancer deaths because of how rapidly it spreads.
  • Basal Cell and Squamous Cell carcinomas typically appear on those parts of your body that are most often exposed to the sun –your face, ears, neck, lips, hands, arms, chest or back.
  • Melanoma most often appears on the trunk, head or neck of affected men. In women it most often develops on the arms or legs. In either gender it can appear in areas of the body that are never exposed to the sun.
  • Your skin type, as well as hereditary risk factors, along with poor nutrition and a weak immune system, play a greater role in your likelihood of developing skin cancer. People most at risk include those with freckles, fair skin tones, light colored eyes (green or blue), and naturally red or blonde hair. Others also at greater risk are those who burn easily, spend a lot of time outdoors, or have a personal or family history of skin cancer or melanoma.
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Understanding Sunscreens and the SPF Debate: Are You Getting the Protection You Need?

August 14, 2009 by 3 Comments

The alarming increase in skin cancer rates over the past 10 years has led to a proliferation of commercial sun protection products in the form of sunscreens and sun blocks designed primarily to protect you from overexposure to UVB rays –the ultraviolet blue rays that are known to cause sunburn and were long thought to be the cause of melanoma –the deadliest of all skin cancers.

The effectiveness of these products has been largely based on their Sun Protection Factor (SPF) ratings, which start as low as 4 and go as high as 50 or 65. Unfortunately, there is a lot of confusion about what these ratings mean and how effective they really are. This is due in part to a common misconception that if you double the SPF used, you will get double the protection or alternately, double the amount of time you can spend in the sun before you get sunburned. In fact, doubling your SPF results in only a small incremental increase in sunburn protection, and no SPF can give you 100% protection from UVB radiation.

Using higher SPF sunscreens tends to fool most people into thinking they can stay in the sun for longer periods of time and remain fully protected. This thinking overlooks a simple reality –the longer you stay in the sun the greater your exposure is to UVA rays which are now thought to play a much bigger role in causing skin cancer and premature aging. While you might enjoy some additional protection from sunburn with a higher SPF, the increase in exposure to UVA that comes from prolonged exposure may be putting you at a much higher risk.

So how do you know how much protection you’re getting and if it’s what you really need? Well it helps to understand a little bit about how SPF ratings are determined and what other factors come into play that can decrease their effectiveness.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration defines SPF as the amount of time it takes to produce minimal redness (erythema) in skin via UVB exposure, which is visible 16-24 hours after exposure. This is also known as an individual’s Minimal Erythemal Dose (MED) and it’s achieved when the skin attains the amount of UVB required to produce sunburn.

Arriving at a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) rating involves exposing small areas of a test subject’s protected (MEDp) and unprotected (MEDu) skin to five to seven increasing doses of UV energy produced by an artificial light source called a solar simulator. Then a ratio is calculated by dividing the length of time a person can stay in the sun at noon with protection before burning by the length of time a person can stay in the sun at noon without protection before burning. The shorthand for this is SPF=MEDp/MEDu.

The final SPF value is determined by averaging the values obtained from a group of either 10- or 20- test subjects. These calculations don’t take into account the fact that MED will vary as a function of time of year, latitude, altitude, and of course, a person’s skin color and type. Nor do they include a calculation for protection against UVA radiation. Here’s a brief summary of what the different SPFs offer by way of protection:

  • As a simple example, an SPF 2 enables the skin to be exposed to UVB twice as long as when no sunscreen is used, before your MED occurs. This means that an SPF 2 absorbs 50% of UV rays, allowing the other 50% to get through, so it takes twice as long for the skin to absorb the amount of UV needed to produce redness.
  • An SPF 8 absorbs 87.5% of the rays leaving 12.5% to reach the skin. If you multiply 12.5% by 8, you get 100%, so the skin requires eight times the amount of UV needed to produce redness when wearing an SPF 8.
  • An SPF 15 absorbs 93.33%, allowing 6.67% to get through and an SPF 30 absorbs 96.67% allowing 3.3% to pass. SPF 30 does not offer twice the protection of an SPF 15. It offers less than 4% more protection.

It’s a challenge to arrive at the right number for SPF products due to various skin types, geography and mountain or ocean level effects. To complicate matters, the solar simulator used for SPF testing only vaguely resembles sunlight -throwing off too much short wavelength UVB and only half of the UVA in real sunlight. This can cause product SPFs to be so unreasonably high as to be almost meaningless, all other things considered.

And if you don’t know your MED then it’s difficult to know which SPF will work best for you. Unless you are fair skinned, have red hair, or must spend extended amounts of time in the sun, an SPF 15 should be adequate in most cases. A couple of other factors can help you make the most of your sunscreen:

1. Know Your Skin Type

Researchers have identified 6 different skin types and their relative risk for skin cancer. People with Type 1 skin have the highest risk of skin cancer and people with Type 6 skin, the lowest. Knowing your skin type can help you determine how high an SPF you need to be safe. You can read more about this in Michael F. Holick’s book The UV Advantage .

2. Know Your Risk of Exposure

The National Weather Service and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) teamed up and developed something called the UV Index, which provides a daily forecast of the expected risk of overexposure to the sun. The Index predicts UV intensity levels on a scale of 1 to 11+, where 1 indicates a low risk of overexposure and 11+ signifies an extreme risk. Calculated on a next-day basis for every zip code across the United States, the UV Index takes into account clouds and other local conditions that affect the amount of UV radiation reaching the ground in different parts of the country. You can find the current UV Index for your city at http://www.epa.gov/sunwise/uvindex.html.

Copyright 2009
Dropwise Essentials

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You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it:Donya Fahmy, is a green business owner and the creator of Dropwise Essentials’ spa-quality aromatherapy body products that help you safely relieve stress, increase vitality, improve confidence, or simply manage your emotional state any time or place without popping a pill. For more
free tips and valuable information visit www.dropwise.com and subscribe to the Dropwise Health & Beauty News Ezine or blog feed.

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FDA-Approved Sunscreen Ingredients: Do You Really Want to Put These on Your Skin?

August 12, 2009 by 1 Comment

According to The Chemical Sunscreen Health Disaster site, chemical sunscreens are potentially harmful to humans in one of two ways: 1) their chemical action leads to the proliferation of cancer-causing free radicals and/or 2) their estrogenic effects make them endocrine disruptors which can cause serious problems in sexual development and adult sexual function, and can further increase risks for certain types of cancer other than melanoma.

The results of one study done at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, showed that many widely used sunscreen chemicals, including benzophenone-3, octyl methoxycinnamate, and octyl-dimethyl-PABA, mimic the effects of the female hormone estrogen and trigger developmental abnormalities in rats.

As far back as 1998, Dr. John Knowland at the University of Oxford, reported studies showing that certain sunscreens containing PABA and its derivatives can damage DNA, at least in the test tube experiments. When a chemical sunscreen, Padimate-O, was added to DNA and the mixture exposed to the ultraviolet rays of sunlight, it was found that the sunscreen broke down in sunlight, releasing highly active agents that could damage DNA.

Research by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) of over 1,500 sunscreens and other sun-blocking products currently on the market found that 3 of 5 sunscreens either don’t protect skin from sun damage or contain hazardous chemicals – or both. Their 2009 Sunscreen Report found a 70% increase over 2008 in the number of products containing one ore more of the 4 strong UVA filters FDA has approved for use in sunscreens (Avobenzone, Mexoryl, Titanium Dioxide, and Zinc).

Their research showed that despite the increased use of UVA filters, 1-in-9 products offer dangerously low levels of UVA protection. In August 2007, the FDA proposed a 4-star rating system for UVA protection and a requirement that the rating appear on sunscreen labels. The FDA has not finalized this proposal, and no brands are posting the new UVA rating voluntarily. With no mandatory, comprehensive sunscreen standards in place, products vary widely in safety and effectiveness. Check out the chart in the EWG Report that illustrates how most products that are effective or moderately effective at protecting you from sun damage, also pose a moderate-to-high health hazard.

Your tax dollars hard at work …

Copyright 2009 Dropwise Essentials

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE?You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Donya Fahmy, is a green business owner and the creator of Dropwise Essentials’ spa-quality aromatherapy body products that help you safely relieve stress, increase vitality, improve confidence, or simply manage your emotional state any time or place without popping a pill. For more free tips and valuable information visit www.dropwise.com and subscribe to the Dropwise Health & Beauty News Ezine or blog feed.

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

August 10, 2009 by 7 Comments

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?

Copyright 2009 Dropwise Essentials

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Donya Fahmy, is a green business owner and the creator of Dropwise Essentials’ spa-quality aromatherapy body products that help you safely relieve stress, increase vitality, improve confidence, or simply manage your emotional state any time or place without popping a pill. For more free tips and valuable information visit www.dropwise.com and subscribe to the Dropwise Health & Beauty News Ezine or blog feed.

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