What Is Sunscreen?

You're confused because it's confusing

For most the following is going to be a little disconcerting: chemical sunscreens and sunblocks do NOT reflect the sun's energy harmlessly back into space. UV energy reacts chemically with the sunscreen in your skin, produces heat and a tiny amount is reflected away. This process is often more damaging than not using chemical sunscreen at all. ¹

There is little real distinction between sunscreen and sunblock. The term sunblock should not be used for one main reason: it suggests all the sun's energy is blocked and therefore you have nothing to worry about. There is a movement in the U.S. to remove sunblock from the marketing lexicon because it is misleading.

Sunblock commonly, but not always, refers to products that use zinc oxide or titanium dioxide as the main active sunburn prevention ingredient. You've seen the lifeguards with the white noses, right? Recently manufacturers are using nanoparticles to minimize sheen. The problem is nanoparticles are absorbed through the skin into your bloodstream. These are untested making zinc and titanium poisoning a real possibility.

Most chemical sunscreens and sunblocks are labeled with an SPF number. SPF indicates a product's ability to prevent sunburn induced by UVB. A small but important distinction is what you think the acronym SPF means. Marketers say it means Sun Protection Factor, but just like the term sunblock it misleads: first you think you have total sun protection and second it makes the product seem harmless. SPF more accurately means Sunburn Prevention Factor – meaning how much sunburn prevention you receive from the product. There is no promise the product is safe or that it gives total protection.

There is concern the SPF rating system is insufficient because it does not tell the consumer how much if any UVA filtering the product provides. There are several new rating systems being tested around the world, including some licensed-proprietary systems, like the movie rating system (G, PG, PG13, R) used by Hollywood.

The consumer is already confused and mislead by SPF, adding multiple rating systems is a marketer's dream but a consumer's nightmare. Any change to the rating system misses the point – laboratory conditions and real world application have little in common. Have you ever received the stated gas mileage on your new-car sticker?

To get the stated SPF a woman 5'4" (163cm) weighing 150lbs (68kg) in a bikini must apply 1oz of chemical sunscreen 30 minutes before sun exposure and reapply every 30 minutes thereafter.² And worse yet, not reapplying every 30 minutes can lead to more free radical damage than if you had used no sunscreen at all.³ Let's put that in perspective, you will consume an entire 6oz bottle of chemical sunscreen in just three hours at the beach. Be honest, you've been using that same bottle of sunscreen for three years now.

Since no one uses chemical sunscreens as directed scientists have concluded the best you can hope for is an effective SPF of, wait for it – 3.16 on a bottle of SPF 100. Here is the kicker, a base tan, your natural defense against sunburn, provides an SPF of 4.0. Nature trumps man's arrogance once again.

"There are no safe sunscreen products on the market."

~Dr. Samuel S. Epstein, author Toxic Beauty

  I've had good luck with buying used books - big savings over new.

¹ Hanson, KM; Gratton, E; Bardeen, CJ (2006). "Sunscreen enhancement of UV-induced reactive oxygen species in the skin". Free Radical Biology and Medicine 11 (8): 1205.

² Diffey B (2001). "When should sunscreen be reapplied?". J Am Acad Dermatol 45 (6): 882–5.

³ Hanson



Comments

[Dr. Don]

Thank you Susan for your comment. You are correct, too many depend on the "Nanny State" to watch over their safety, protect their rights and provide for their families. Additionally you are spot on when you say, "… reading of labels is an arduous task!" This is why, I believe, we should look first at what nature intended before we complicate our lives with the wonders of modern chemistry. You have lived, hunted and gathered under the Sub-Saharan sun, as evolving hominids, for 6 million years. Only in the last forty years has the exaggerated state of fear known as Sun Scare demonized life-giving sun. You need sunshine like you need food, air and water. Never sunburn.

[Sue Ingram]

The whole sunscreen business is just one example amongst many of why we should, as consumers, not take everything at face value and do some research, read labels, and basically become more knowledgeable and more aware of how it is out there! That said, there is a huge amount of knowledge to be gained and even then, reading of labels is an arduous task! Not only because things such as ingredients are usually in very small print, but because the ingredients themselves are confusing.
Bottom line for me though, is that I can't depend on the mother state to look after me, so I had better become more aware and more knowledgeable. So, thanks for your provoking article!