SUNSCREEN FAIL: Most sunscreens flunk proposed FDA standards of safety and efficacy
May 29, 2019 • 2 min read
Bad enough that China’s rogue manufacturers continue to pump ozone-depleting CFC-11 greenhouse gas into the atmosphere. But to discover that smothering ourselves in sunscreen is unlikely to protect our skin from nasty UV rays streaming through the widening hole in the ozone layer – never mind toxins contained in sunscreen seeping into our bloodstream …well, it’s enough to make right minded people buy this hat instead.
Nearly two-thirds of all sunscreens evaluated by US activist group Environmental Working Group (EWG) do not offer adequate sun protection or contain potentially harmful chemicals.
Results of the group’s 2019 Guide to Sunscreens, a yearly report on sunscreen safety first published in 2006, now carry even greater weight thanks to product evaluation that applied safety guidelines proposed by the FDA.
100+ SPF coverage – don’t believe it
According to the FDA, there is no good data showing that sunscreens can protect past a level of 60+ SPF. In which case labelling sunscreen at levels higher than 60+ is patently misleading.
Spooky ingredients
FDA is also calling for additional testing of a dozen common sunscreen ingredients after finding that high levels of four of them - avobenzone, oxybenzone, ecamsule and octocrylene - can enter a person’s bloodstream after just one day of use. The chemicals remained in the body for at least 24 hours after application.
The Environmental Working Group found that nearly two-thirds of the chemical sunscreens in its 2018 report contain oxybenzone, which has been linked to damage to coral reefs and marine life, as well as lower testosterone levels in adolescent boys, hormone changes in men, and shorter pregnancies and disrupted birth weights in babies.
Use sunscreens that contain zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, which studies show are not absorbed into the skin.