Safe Sunscreen: Making an Informed Decision

Summer is finally here! Or rather, it will be as of this Saturday. With summer comes outside play, swimming, vacations, and many other sun-drenched, fun-filled activities that we all love - especially after being cooped up all winter! However, with the onset of summer comes the inevitable trip to Walmart and the overwhelming task of standing in the sunscreen aisle trying to read the labels while your children repeatedly ask you how much longer. After hushing them for the 100th time (or was it the 101st?) and trying to regain focus, many moms end up grabbing the sunscreen with the best claim on the front and calling it a day. Hey, at least you got something to protect you and your kiddos from all the sun-kissed activities this summer, right?

Wrong.

In this post I'm not going to tell you what sunscreen to buy or not to buy. I'll be honest, I don't have time to read each and every label (especially when that's already been done and I'll give you that link in a minute). What I am going to do is give you the information you need to be able to make an easier, better informed decision for you, your family, and your individual needs. Lets get started, summer is here and who wants to spend it indoors reading a blog?

The Somewhat Brief History of Sunscreen

Everyone knows that the ancient Egyptians built pyramids and the Great Sphinx, but did you know that they also had a form of sunscreen? The Egyptians favored lighter skin to differentiate themselves from their slaves. So they developed a mix of rice bran extract, jasmine, and lupine seed extract (sorry, I don't have the exact recipe) that they used to help protect their skin from the darkening effects of the hot desert sun.

Besides that tidbit of ancient history, I couldn't find anything substantial on sunscreen until it's introduction into modern era in the late 1930s. A chemistry student named Franz Greiter set out to develop a form of skin protection after he received a sunburn while mountain climbing. Fast forward to the early 1950s and Coppertone was born (except back then it was called Coppertone Girl). But it is estimated that sunscreen wasn't widely used until sometime in the 1970s to early 80s. And this is also when sunscreen started to have a SPF rating over 2 or 4 which is what it was back in the 50s. Why is the history of sunscreen important? I just wanted to point out that it is a fairly new invention (except for the primitive, but seemingly natural concoction of the Egyptians).

Understanding the Rays, Ratings, and Wrongs of Sunscreen

There are three different wavelengths in sunlight. Ultraviolet A, Ultraviolet B, and Ultraviolet C. UVC rays do not reach the earth so we don't have to worry about them. UVA is more prevalent during the morning and late afternoon hours of the day and UVB during the middle or heat of the day. UVA can penetrate glass and UVB cannot. We'll come back to the rays in a minute.

The SPF number is the Sun Protection Factor that you are receiving from your sunscreen for the UVB rays. Most people assume that the higher the SPF number, the better the protection. However, according to Dr. Steven Wang of the Skin Cancer Foundation:

SPF 15 blocks 93% of UVB radiation, 

SPF 30 blocks 97% of UVB radiation, and

SPF 50 blocks 98% of UVB radiation. 

Therefore, a super high SPF doesn't really afford much extra protection. However, Dr. Wang also says that due to conservative application of sunscreen, people generally only get about one-third the label value of protection. In other words, use more sunscreen or a higher SPF.

You may have noticed that I didn't mention UVA rays in regards to the SPF number. Sunscreens used to only afford protection from the UVB rays and ignored the UVA rays totally. This is because it is the UVB rays from which you are most likely to get burned. However, according to physician and founder of the Exodus Health Center, Dr. Josh Axe warns while the UVB rays can burn skin, it is the UVA rays that penetrate deep into the skin and lead to premature aging. And according to one peer-reviewed hypothesis paper, Rising Trends in Melanoma: A Hypothesis Conecerning Sunscreen Effectiveness, it is the UVA rays that can do the damage that also trigger skin cancers. Therefore, more sunscreens are now claiming protection from both the UVA and UVB rays. These sunscreens will often be labeled as broad spectrum, multi-spectrum, or UVA/UVB protection.
Other than protection from burning, the main reason people use sunscreen is to protect themselves from skin cancer. The ironic thing I noticed while researching this topic is that as sunscreen became more widely used, skin cancer rates have actually increased. According to the Skin Cancer Foundation,  Basal Cell Carcinoma (BCC) and Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) skin cancers have increased 300% since 1994. And according to the CDC, Melanoma, the most deadly of skin cancers, has increased significantly at a rate of 1.6% every year since 2001. It seems the more we use sunscreen, the more the skin cancer rates climb. And the higher the rates climb, the more we are told to use sunscreen. Are we perpetrating this vicious cycle with the use of sunscreen? How can this be if sunscreen is good for us?

Here are the two main problems with sunscreen.

1. First, many if not most of the sunscreens available for purchase traditionally (remember, sunscreen doesn't have a very long history) have been made with chemicals. We forget that our skin is our biggest organ and absorbs some of whatever we put on it. A lot of the leading sunscreen brands have ingredients that disrupt the human hormonal system and release free radicals. Chemical sunscreens also absorb the UV rays. A peer-reviewed study  show that the absorption of the rays tends to "excite" the chemicals causing them to become unstable. I also found a chart on the Environmental Working Group's site that lists sunscreen ingredients from most toxic to least toxic with other pertinent information as well. And as promised earlier, here is the link with the rating of individual brands.  

To solve the chemical problem, most people switch to a mineral based sunscreen. Mineral sunscreens reflect the UV rays instead of absorbing them as chemical based sunscreens do. The mineral base I would recommend would be Zinc Oxide. You will see on the EWG link I provided that Zinc Oxide has one of the lowest hazard scores and is excellent in blocking the UVA rays. However, a word of caution on mineral based sunscreens: many of the mineral based zinc oxide and titanium dioxide sunscreens that are available use nanoparticles of these minerals. While the EWG say there is no harm in their use, the European Union's Public Health website  says that because of their tiny size they can "cross cell membranes, reach the blood and various organs" which can lead to a myriad of potential problems. In my opinion, nanoparticles in general haven't been studied carefully enough yet. So, if you are using a mineral based sunscreen, I would advise to look for one that specifically states it does not use nanoparticles - at least until they are studied further.

2. Secondly, all sunscreen, both chemical and mineral based, block the UVB rays which we have been told to avoid, but also happen to be the very rays our body actually needs to produce Vitamin D. 

According to The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition,  we are in a pandemic of Vitamin D deficiency worldwide. Other peer-review studies  agree. Since Vitamin D is not prevalent in our food (unless it's synthetically added), the main way humans get Vitamin D is from direct UVB exposure. Vitamin D helps protect us from so many diseases and, ironically enough, skin cancer. According to earlier referenced Dr. Axe, we have been avoiding the wrong rays (UVB) and ignoring protection against the other, more harmful rays (UVA). We have been tricked into believing that because UVB rays can burn us if we are over exposed, then they are completely bad for us. What we should be concerned about is exposure in moderation - not the elimination of exposure completely.

So, is sunscreen good or bad? My opinion is that sunscreen should be used in moderation. In our home, we only use sunscreen for the rare occasions that we are going to be outdoors for an extended period of the day, such as at the beach or an amusement park, etc. Otherwise, I let my kids out in small increments at the beginning of spring and build up to longer exposure times. We also take advantage of shade whenever possible during longer times of sun exposure, such as during picnics. Remember, the sun has been around since God created it, but sunscreen hasn't. And while correlation doesn't prove causation, the data showing skin cancer rates increasing does parallel the increased use of sunscreen.

Am I telling you not to use sunscreen? Of course not; when, how much and what kind are totally up to you. However, if you choose to use sunscreen regularly, remember, you and your children still need an average of 15 - 20 minutes daily of direct UVB exposure, minus the sunscreen, to allow your body to produce the Vitamin D it requires (exposure time does vary depending on climates and skin tones).

If you are one of those DIY types, here are a couple links to blogs with homemade sunscreen recipes that come highly recommended. This way you can control your SPF and the ingredients you use. 
Homemade Sunscreen #1
or

Homemade Sunscreen #2 
(If you are an Essential Oils fan.) 

This has been a fun topic to research and write about. And even though we don't personally use a lot of sunscreen in our family, we will probably make a couple changes to the type we do use in the future due to some of this new info I learned while doing this research. I hope it helps your family too. Please feel free to share this column with others and/or leave a comment. We love to hear from our readers! Look for our next Healthy Families, Healthy You column on medicated water (you are probably drinking it right now and don't even know it) 3rd week of July! Happy summer and don't forget to soak up some Vitamin D!