I have been leery about using sunscreen for years. I believe that the exact cause of melanoma has not been isolated. so I’ve wondered if chemicals have a hand in causing it…
"It took just one day of use for several common sunscreen ingredients to enter the bloodstream at levels high enough to trigger a government safety investigation, according to a pilot study conducted by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, an arm of the US Food and Drug Administration.
The study, published Monday in the medical journal JAMA, also found that the blood concentration of three of the ingredients continued to rise as daily use continued, and then remained in the body for at least 24 hours after sunscreen use ended.
It took just one day of use for several common sunscreen ingredients to enter the bloodstream at levels high enough to trigger a government safety investigation, according to a pilot study conducted by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, an arm of the US Food and Drug Administration.
I have been leery about using sunscreen for years. I believe that the exact cause of melanoma has not been isolated. so I’ve wondered if chemicals have a hand in causing it…
"It took just one day of use for several common sunscreen ingredients to enter the bloodstream at levels high enough to trigger a government safety investigation, according to a pilot study conducted by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, an arm of the US Food and Drug Administration.
The study, published Monday in the medical journal JAMA, also found that the blood concentration of three of the ingredients continued to rise as daily use continued, and then remained in the body for at least 24 hours after sunscreen use ended.
It took just one day of use for several common sunscreen ingredients to enter the bloodstream at levels high enough to trigger a government safety investigation, according to a pilot study conducted by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, an arm of the US Food and Drug Administration.
I am confused, is there some data that shows these chemicals in your bloodstream are dangerous or increase your risk of something? I have never seen any study or data that shows the risk of XXXXX increases with the use of sunscreen.
As someone who has had skin cancer, has a father who has skin cancer. I don’t use a lot of sunscreen but more so cause I find I forget to reapply so I wear hats and long sleeved shirts most of the time. But when I forget I apply sunscreen.
This post seems almost to be along the Anti-vaxer’s mentality.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6126418/ " The life of human beings depends on the sun. This relationship may be beneficial but, at the same time, dangerous. CMM is one of the most deadly tumor and sunlight is, for sure, the main risk factor, although genetic, UV-unrelated and stochastic factors could also play a pathogenetic role (78) (Figure ​(Figure4).4). Worldwide, CMM incidence is progressively increasing and two over simplified hypotheses are often put forward as possible explanations: (1) increasing sun exposures and (2) increasing aging of the population. However, we have no data to support the first hypothesis (when exposing to the sun, people tend to be more careful now than before), and the increase of life expectancy in western countries in the last 2 decades seems rather stable1. In addition, a growing number of data point out that the relationship between sun exposure and CMM is not simple and straightforward. In particular, even if there is not a light dose that can always be considered either dangerous or beneficial, we know that some UVR doses and some UVA/UVB combinations have a better ratio of beneficial rather than dangerous effects. It is reasonable to conclude that the assessment of the optimal UVR exposure level for each individual will be one of the major future challenges."
I have been leery about using sunscreen for years. I believe that the exact cause of melanoma has not been isolated. so I’ve wondered if chemicals have a hand in causing it…
I hope you were also leery about going outside then, because UV radiation exposure alone is proven to increase your odds of melanoma.
Yeah there are some drawbacks to different sunscreens but it’s all about balancing risk. It is unfortunate that we have less options in the U.S. There are some newer sunscreens that have been approved in Europe that don’t have as many drawbacks as what’s in the U.S. (avobenzone breaks down under sunlight, and oxybenzone is an endocrine disruptor).
FDA needs to get off their butt and approve some of the euro approved ingredients. Mexoryl has been in use since the early 90s and tinosorb s since 99 in Europe. They have the added bonus of being more cosmetically elegant as well as being as effective if not more effective.
This was the conclusion of the study from " JAMA". Conclusions and Relevance In this preliminary study involving healthy volunteers, application of 4 commercially available sunscreens under maximal use conditions resulted in plasma concentrations that exceeded the threshold established by the FDA for potentially waiving some nonclinical toxicology studies for sunscreens. The systemic absorption of sunscreen ingredients supports the need for further studies to determine the clinical significance of these findings. These results do not indicate that individuals should refrain from the use of sunscreen.
I have also seen other reports online that as people eliminated high Omega 6 vegetable oil for their diet, sun tolerance has gone way up.
Thanks for the link;
" … but skin cancer kills surprisingly few people: less than 3 per 100,000 in the U.S. each year. For every person who dies of skin cancer, more than 100 die from cardiovascular diseases."
I work outside every day and almost never wear sun block.
There are several ingredients in most blocks that if you to pour 5 gallons of it on the ground you’d be legally obligated to report it as a hazmat spill.
I’ve been to Hawaii twice, 10 years apart. We snorkeled in exactly the same spot and it was very sad to see the color almost completely washed out of what was once a beautiful floor of coral.
And yes, I am aware that I contributed to that and am not happy about it.
I have also seen other reports online that as people eliminated high Omega 6 vegetable oil for their diet, sun tolerance has gone way up.
One thing about this, I wonder if any of these studies tried to factor for activity level and sun exposure. Pretty sure people who spend more time outside are in general more active than people who spend more time indoors, which makes some of these statements a bit harder to attribute to sunshine only.
Any word about the reflective sunscreens – zinc oxide and titanium dioxide?
Edit: And do those affect coral?
For what it’s worth, those two physical sunscreen actives are considered GRASE (generally recognized as safe and effective) by the FDA. The only two out of the 16 they have approved.
My understanding is that physical sunscreens are thought to be reef safe (or at least the safest option). The one caveat is that there’s some disagreement on the use of nanoparticles. So to be safest, I would use ones that aren’t that, although ewg doesn’t seem as concerned.
They know for sure that oxybenzone and octinoxate are not safe for reefs and there are questions about a couple others.