It’s that time of year again...another beautiful Australian summer is upon us. We are a truly sun-kissed country and so it is only natural that we have such a deeply entrenched beach culture. However, we are a country with the one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world and so have been taught from a young age to protect our skin from the sun.
So each year we go and buy our sunscreen, slather ourselves in it and feel protected as we spend our days on the beach.
But have you ever asked the question as to WHY sunscreen stops us from burning? What goes into the white cream that we all trust so much?
Sunscreen is made up of a mixture of synthetic chemicals that are arguably doing us more harm than good. After scanning many very long (and difficult to pronounce) ingredients on different sunscreen bottles and then researching what the hell they were, I have come to the conclusion that they are all BAD! Every single one seemed to have something wrong with it! As there are so many, I have just provided a selection (and please note that each of these chemicals goes by about 15 different names!):
- Octyl Methoxycinnamate: Potential endocrine system disrupter, reproductive system disrupter and can have an effect on functioning of the brain.
- Retinyl Palmitate: Reacts when exposed to sunlight and can speed the development of tumours.
- Oxybenzone: Easily absorbed through the skin and studies show that it is a potential endocrine system disrupter, reproductive system disrupter and reacts when exposed to sunlight.
- 4-Methylbenzylidene Camphor: Banned in the US and not recommended for use in Europe as possible endocrine disruptor and reproductive system disrupter. Still used in Australia.
Now the sun-safe message is still as strong as ever and there is no way I would spend a day on the beach without sunscreen, which is where my friend ZINC comes into the picture. Zinc is a naturally occurring mineral that that acts as a physical barrier reflecting both UVA and UVB rays. Luckily for us, it has advanced quite a lot since the days of fluoro stripes on noses.
Zinc sunscreen is readily available in most stores however it is a little more expensive than the old-school sunscreen. I have used zinc sunscreen and have found it to last for hours even in surf.
I still think that it is safer to wear ANY type of sunscreen rather than burn and if you cannot afford a mineral sunscreen, at least make sure that the product that you are using has not been sitting in your cupboard for two years and has gone bad.
Enjoy your summer and be sun smart!
xoxo
Miss Chemical Detective
References and links for further reading:
http://www.cancer.org.au/cancersmartlifestyle/SunSmart/Skincancerfactsandfigures.htmhttp://breakingnews.ewg.org/2011sunscreen/sunscreens-exposed/the-problem-with-vitamin-a/
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