Sunscreen Controversy
To use sunscreen or not, this is the question many parents ask. While dermatologists were advising using sunscreen or even sunblock for little children for years, some parents, and many natural health proponents believe that it may be more harmful than helpful.
As TIME Magazine tells us, one of the ingredients in many sunscreens, retinyl palmitate, a vitamin A compound, is under investigation by the FDA. To make the long story short: it causes cancer in test animals.
EWG (Environmental Working Group), a non-profit organization, tested and analyzed ingredients in about 500 sunscreens and recommends avoiding both retinyl palmitate and oxybenzone, potential hormone disruptor. You can read about their recommendations in their 2010 Sunscreen Guide: http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/. According to EWG only about 8% of all sunscreens are natural and safe to use.
So what are parents supposed to do? On one hand we would like to take our doctor’s advice and avoid risk of skin cancer, but on the other hand who wants to smear their child in dangerous chemicals.
The jury is still out on this one and it is basically up to you. You may want to use only the sunscreen recommended by EWG, just to be on the safe side.
But remember that slow exposure to sun builds up our own immunity known as “tan”. It has been proven numerous times that humans actually need sun exposure for health (for vitamin D production and mental health), so constantly using sunblock can actually be disruptive, since it blocks all the sun’s radiation.
Try to avoid sun between 11 am and 3 pm, make sure your kids wear hats and T-shirts. What is the most damaging to the skin is the sunburn, so avoid it at all costs. I tend to use some natural oil, such as coconut oil, which filters some of the sun rays and has been used for that purpose for hundreds of years by the natives. It is also edible, smells good and is great for the delicate skin.
You can read more about the controversy here: http://www.naturalnews.com/001264.html
Tell us what you think.
- Beata Antoszek's blog
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Sunscreen
Hello.
I live in Florida and sun exposure is a daily experience, year round. The sun here is also more intense than in the northern climes. I do find that going outside in the early morning or early evening hours is the best strategy. Even here in Florida, when employing this strategy, I rarely have used sunscreen on my child and she has never been sunburned or even markedly reddened. Our skin would be characterized as fair, being of eastern European descent. We live on the west coast of Florida, so we enjoy sunsets at the beach. If we arrive at the beach around 4pm, we can enjoy swimming and beach activities until dark, which doesn't happen until nearly 9 pm in the summertime. That is 5 hours of beach time....plenty.
This is a great strategy at the beach, where the wind is usually strong coming in from the ocean. Away from the ocean breeze, most months of the year it is too buggy in Florida to be outside anywhere other than the beach at this time of day.
When I have used sunscreen,I have found the children's formulations to be harsh and stinging to the eyes (no matter what the label claims). I have had good experiences using Neutrogena sunscreens and recommend their use for children. I do not know about the chemicals these contain, I will have to read the labels. The sprays they have are easy to apply to small children without fuss. They feel cooling on a hot day, rather than oily and thick and stifling (as a lotion can be).