Most Sunscreens Fail to Protect

[MsTerry]

<!-- END PRINT HEAD --> <!-- BEGIN HEADLINE --> https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/p/livesci_logo_135x50.jpg
Most Sunscreens Fail to Protect

<!-- END HEADLINE --> <!-- BEGIN STORY BODY --> Christopher Wanjek ([email protected])
LiveScience's Bad Medicine Columnist
LiveScience.com (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/byline/mostsunscreensfailtoprotect/28159323/SIG=10sog4vj6/*https://www.livescience.com)Tue Jul 8, 6:55 AM ET

The simple rule of sunscreen - the higher the SPF and the thicker the slather, the better - has come under doubt.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a Washington-based research group and habitual gadfly to the business world, has found that 4 out of 5 of the nearly 1,000 sunscreen lotions analyzed offer inadequate protection from the sun or contain harmful chemicals. The biggest offenders, the EWG said, are the industry leaders: Coppertone, Banana Boat and Neutrogena.
While 3 out of 3 industry leaders are rather upset with the EWG report, and while some dermatologists criticize it for hyperbole, the report does underscore several long-standing health concerns:
Sunscreens do not offer blanket protection from the sun and do little to prevent the most deadly form of skin cancer; reliance on them instead of, say, a hat and protective clothing, might be contributing to skin cancer; and the Food and Drug Administration has yet to issue any safety standards, mysteriously sitting on a set of recommendations drafted 30 years ago.
Subcutaneous homesick blues
Sunlight contains ultraviolet radiation, largely in two forms: UVA and UVB. Aside from sunburn, UVB exposure causes the most common forms of skin cancer - basal cell carcinoma, which is rarely deadly and mostly only disfiguring, and squamous cell carcinoma, which can turn deadly about 1 percent of the time.
UVA penetrates the skin more deeply and causes wrinkling. Recent research, however, has found that UVA exacerbates the carcinogenic effects of UVB and might cause skin cancer itself.
Most sunscreens block only UVB. And the SPF system, short for Sun Protection Factor, refers only to UVB. SPF provides an estimate of a lotion's level of sunburn protection. If you start burning in about 30 minutes, then SPF 15 will allow you to stay in the sun 15 times longer before getting burned, in theory.
SPF of 1 zillion
Total UV protection is within reach and has been used for millennia. It's called clothing. Unfortunately this isn't so convenient when summertime fun calls for minimal clothing.
The EWG report takes an ax to the loose SPF claims. Almost all sunscreen lotions contain chemicals that, perhaps counter-intuitively, breakdown in the presence of sunlight. But in fact this is how they block UVB from penetrating the skin, like a castle wall protecting against cannonballs until the wall crumbles.
Notions of all-day protection, as some sunscreen products claim, or even several hours of protection are ludicrous, the EWG said, because most sunscreens start deteriorating in as quickly as 15 minutes. This doesn't even account for sweat and casual rubbing, further reducing protection.
Also, few sun-worshipers use the recommended shot-glass-amount of lotion with each application. We merely think we are protected; few really are.
Controversy, not just skin deep
The EWG also trashed any lotion containing harmful chemicals that can easily penetrate the skin. Oxybenzone, which blocks UVA, is a main offender. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found oxybenzone in the urine of just about everyone tested.
This chemical can promote DNA damage in the presence of sunlight. Oxybenzone and similar cancer-causing chemicals in sunscreens contribute to the minority view that sunscreens actually cause more and deadlier cancers than they prevent. Several small studies have found an increased risk of malignant melanoma, by far the deadliest form of skin cancer, among regular users of sunscreens.
Many zinc-based protects appear to be safe, according to the EWG. Until the FDA breaks its silence and offers some guidance, there's the EWG list of recommendations at https://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008. Or you can move to Seattle.
You and the Sun: 10 Burning Questions Little Known Facts about Skin Cancer Bad Habits: Why We Can't Stop
Christopher Wanjek is the author of the books "Bad Medicine" and "Food At Work." Got a question about Bad Medicine? LiveScience.
Original Story: Most Sunscreens Fail to Protect Visit LiveScience.com for more daily news, views and scientific inquiry with an original, provocative point of view. LiveScience reports amazing, real world breakthroughs, made simple and stimulating for people on the go. Check out our collection of Science, Animal and Dinosaur Pictures, Science Videos, Hot Topics, Trivia, Top 10s, Voting, Amazing Images, Reader Favorites, and more. Get cool gadgets at the new LiveScience Store, sign up for our free daily email newsletter and check out our RSS feeds today!

[Sylph]

I heard this on Dr. Edell a couple days ago. In the old days, we went inside when we felt the burn. Now, we stay out for hours and get radiated to death. Melanoma is a bad way to go!

[Toxic Reverend]

There is a simply worded article about proper
and healthy sun exposure in the free news
letters at Beyond Health, in the Archives at
https://www.beyondhealth.com/ (https://www.beyondhealth.com/)

You do have to subscribe to their free newsletter
to have access to the article. The simple advice
goes into exposure time for optimal health, with
out getting burned and tips. Such as thin long
sleeved white dress shirts, wide brimmed hats and
more.

The fact is that we need some sun exposure to
be healthy and the dramatic rise in skin cancers
"might" be from the chemicals in many sun screen
lotions and tanning products.

Additional information;

Database lists illnesses with toxic chemicals
that can cause them is now linked in with a
review and comments at :>
https://people.tribe.net/toxicreverend

Blessings,

The Toxic Reverend
https://www.myspace.com/toxicreverend

[Braggi]

... The simple advice
goes into exposure time for optimal health, with
out getting burned and tips. Such as thin long
sleeved white dress shirts, wide brimmed hats and
more.

The fact is that we need some sun exposure to
be healthy and the dramatic rise in skin cancers
"might" be from the chemicals in many sun screen
lotions and tanning products. ...

Balance is the key message here. We do need some sun exposure to achieve maximum health. Those who are fair haired and fair skinned are at greatest risk of sun induced skin cancers but often are the ones you see getting well browned at the beach (using lots of sunscreen of course).

As a curious side note, those who work in the sun all day long all year long, such as construction workers, are among those least likely to get melanoma and these folks rarely use sunscreen. Go figger ...

-Jeff

[Toxic Reverend]

Here is a copy / paste of the "Sunlight (https://www.beyondhealth.com/sunlight-health.aspx)" article from
https://www.beyondhealth.com/articles.aspx
There are too many other articles to list. Being
that the articles are free, you can get a basic
education on "censored health information", from
an expert, in every day terms. The authors
credentials are given after the article - Blessings,
The Toxic Reverend (https://people.tribe.net/toxicreverend)
......

REPRINTED FROM BEYOND HEALTH® News



Sunlight and Health


by Raymond Francis

In a number of BHN issues beginning in July/August of '96, we have told our readers

that, contrary to popular belief, sunlight does not cause cancer. In fact cancer rates

are much lower where there is more sunlight. I have recently come across an

excellent book by Zane Kime, MD titled Sunlight. Dr. Kime looks at the relationship of

sunlight and human health. He takes studies from the scientific literature and

demonstrates sunlight's beneficial effects in lowering cholesterol, blood pressure, and

blood sugar. He cites how sunlight increases endurance, sex hormone levels, and

immunity. The book also contains dietary suggestions on how to protect your skin

from sun damage the way nature intended.

It's easy to forget, in the midst of our cancer epidemic, that cancer was traditionally a

rare disease affecting less than 1% of the population. The healthy, long-lived

populations like the Hunzas and the Vilcabambas lived at high elevations where the

sun was more intense. They were out farming every day. Yet they lived to very old

ages without getting cancer. If the sun causes cancer, how did these people and

others like the Polynesians ever survive? Skin cancer is the end-result of many factors

of which inappropriate sun exposure is only one.

Like a lot of things, too much of a good thing can be bad for you. The sun is essential

to health, but too little or too much sun will damage health. The sun can do damage

if we use it improperly. And use it improperly is what most of us do. Studies show

that the incidence of all malignancy is 6 to 10 times lower closer to the equator

where there is more sunlight, and people who have chronic exposure to the sun are

less likely to develop melanoma than urbanized people who have intermittent

exposure.

One of the reasons for lower cancer rates may be that people who are out in the sun

all the time form pigments that protect them from the sun, and their sun exposure

makes them healthier in the first place. Urban dwellers don't get enough healthy sun

exposure. They often get intermittent tans that fade. Repeating this cycle may result

in damage because the skin is not protected during the tanning process. Also the

urban dweller is much more likely to burn during the tanning process. Some

researchers believe that burns are a key to skin cancer. Turning into a red lobster is

definitely not conducive to good health, as any lobster can attest.

No one is arguing that sunlight doesn't trigger free radical activity and that the

amount of free radicals doesn't increase with the intensity of the sunshine. These

free radicals can cause skin to age prematurely, wrinkle, and sunburn, and can

damage DNA and cause skin lesions. However, research shows that diets rich in

carotenes and other antioxidants protect the skin against the hazards of ultraviolet

sunlight. Carotenes are a class of compounds found in plants, fruits, and vegetables

that reduce the free radical activity that causes damage and premature aging of

cells. Research has shown that diets rich in carotenes reduce the risk of cancer and

prevent the damage to DNA that results in a number of degenerative diseases. In

fact carotenes are being called nature's "sun umbrella." Carotenes are used up during

exposure to sunlight, so one's dietary supply must be adequate to provide continuous

protection. Here's the problem. Very few Americans are getting adequate amounts of

fresh fruits and vegetables in their diet. We are blaming the sun for problems caused

by poor diets and excessive inappropriate exposures.

What about sunscreens? A few decades of increasing sunscreen use has done nothing

to stop the increasing rate of skin cancer. In fact, the chemicals in sunscreens may

even become carcinogenic when exposed to sunlight. Researchers at the University of

Pennsylvania say that broad-spectrum sunscreens still aren't broad enough to cover

the full spectrum of potentially harmful light. Ultraviolet radiation consists of over 100

separate frequencies. Sunscreens don't protect against all, and we don't know which

are harmful and which beneficial. We may even be blocking the wrong ones. In

addition, using a sunscreen can create a false sense of security and cause people to

spend excessive amounts of time in the sun. Researchers at the M.D. Anderson

Cancer Center in Houston say, "There is no substantial evidence that sunscreen

protects against any of the three forms of skin cancer. Dr. Robin Marks, a

dermatologist and a professor at the University of Melbourne says, "Relying on

synthetic chemicals to prevent cancer is laughable." Arthur Rhodes, a University of

Pittsburgh dermatologist, told a 1994 meeting of the American Cancer Society that

sunscreens "appear weakly effective or ineffective" at preventing cancer.

The fact is we were designed to be out in the sun. Sunlight is absolutely essential for

good health in so many ways that we don't even begin to understand them. Unless

you do something foolish, the sun won't damage healthy people who have adequate

amounts of nutrients like carotenes, lycopene, essential fatty acids, and vitamins A,

C, E, and zinc and selenium. Our need for the sun is exemplified by the fact that

nature intended we get most of our vitamin D from the sun. Vitamin D is almost

totally absent in vegetable foods.

When sunlight strikes the skin it sets off a multi-staged process whereby cholesterol

is ultimately changed into vitamin D. Vitamin D is essential to the absorption of

calcium from the intestines and for the production of enzymes involved in collagen

formation in the bones. Staying out of the sun is partially responsible for our

epidemic of osteoporosis, especially in our elderly. One study found that 36% of

elderly men and 47% of elderly women were vitamin D deficient. Even moderate sun

exposure would help to alleviate this problem. However, sunlight through window

glass will not activate vitamin D synthesis.

Sunlight is absolutely essential to good health. Its only been in recent times that the

sun has been cast as our enemy. If getting too little or too much sun is bad for us,

how can the average person get what they need without harming themselves? First

of all get the sun slowly. Secondly, stay out of the midday sun. Timing sun exposures

to avoid the hours of 10 to 2 PM will cut ultraviolet exposure by 60% because the sun

is less intense. Most everyone should try to get at least ten minutes in the sun on a

daily basis and longer on weekends. If you do it this way, your skin will adapt

through skin pigmentation and you won't get sunburned. Some experts claim at least

one hour of unfiltered sunlight per day is essential to health. This doesn't have to be

in direct sun, indirect sunlight is acceptable but it should not be filtered through

glass. Sunlight into the retina is a very important nutrient. Retinas need the whole

spectrum of solar radiation, and wearing glasses or contacts could screen out

important frequencies that are critical to long-term health. When you are in direct

sun for long periods, cover up. Wear a broad brimmed hat and suitable clothing.

We need to protect against skin cancer both from the outside and the inside. Getting

an optimal amount of nutrients is essential. Eat a diet that is rich in fresh, unrefined,

essential fatty acids such as those contained in Udo's Choice. A diet rich in carotenes

is essential. Supplementation with products like Caroplete should be considered.

Caroplete contains a natural mixture of carotenes including lycopene. In addition,

vitamins A, C, and E along with minerals like zinc and selenium will help to both

protect and repair skin.

How much sun is right for you depends on your biochemical individuality. With a bit

of awareness and following the above suggestions, you should be able to develop a

healthy golden tan and reap the benefits of the sun without doing harm. Health is a

choice, and by developing good habits and making sensible choices, the sun will be

your friend and not your enemy.


Raymond Francis is an M.I.T.-trained scientist, a registered nutrition consultant,

author of Never Be Sick Again and Never Be Fat Again, host of the Beyond Health

Show, Chairman of the The Project to End Disease and an internationally recognized

leader in the field of optimal health maintenance.

Reprinted with permission from:


Beyond Health® News

Subscriptions: Call 800-250-3063

website: https://www.beyondhealth.com (https://www.beyondhealth.com/)


email: [email protected] ([email protected])

Copyright 1997, Beyond Health





<!-- END PRINT HEAD --> <!-- BEGIN HEADLINE --> https://l.yimg.com/us.yimg.com/i/us/nws/p/livesci_logo_135x50.jpg
Most Sunscreens Fail to Protect

<!-- END HEADLINE --> <!-- BEGIN STORY BODY --> Christopher Wanjek ([email protected])
LiveScience's Bad Medicine Columnist
LiveScience.com (https://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/livescience/sc_livescience/byline/mostsunscreensfailtoprotect/28159323/SIG=10sog4vj6/*https://www.livescience.com)Tue Jul 8, 6:55 AM ET

The simple rule of sunscreen - the higher the SPF and the thicker the slather, the better - has come under doubt.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a Washington-based research group and habitual gadfly to the business world, has found that 4 out of 5 of the nearly 1,000 sunscreen lotions analyzed offer inadequate protection from the sun or contain harmful chemicals. The biggest offenders, the EWG said, are the industry leaders: Coppertone, Banana Boat and Neutrogena.
While 3 out of 3 industry leaders are rather upset with the EWG report, and while some dermatologists criticize it for hyperbole, the report does underscore several long-standing health concerns:
Sunscreens do not offer blanket protection from the sun and do little to prevent the most deadly form of skin cancer; reliance on them instead of, say, a hat and protective clothing, might be contributing to skin cancer; and the Food and Drug Administration has yet to issue any safety standards, mysteriously sitting on a set of recommendations drafted 30 years ago.
Subcutaneous homesick blues
Sunlight contains ultraviolet radiation, largely in two forms: UVA and UVB. Aside from sunburn, UVB exposure causes the most common forms of skin cancer - basal cell carcinoma, which is rarely deadly and mostly only disfiguring, and squamous cell carcinoma, which can turn deadly about 1 percent of the time.
UVA penetrates the skin more deeply and causes wrinkling. Recent research, however, has found that UVA exacerbates the carcinogenic effects of UVB and might cause skin cancer itself.
Most sunscreens block only UVB. And the SPF system, short for Sun Protection Factor, refers only to UVB. SPF provides an estimate of a lotion's level of sunburn protection. If you start burning in about 30 minutes, then SPF 15 will allow you to stay in the sun 15 times longer before getting burned, in theory.
SPF of 1 zillion
Total UV protection is within reach and has been used for millennia. It's called clothing. Unfortunately this isn't so convenient when summertime fun calls for minimal clothing.
The EWG report takes an ax to the loose SPF claims. Almost all sunscreen lotions contain chemicals that, perhaps counter-intuitively, breakdown in the presence of sunlight. But in fact this is how they block UVB from penetrating the skin, like a castle wall protecting against cannonballs until the wall crumbles.
Notions of all-day protection, as some sunscreen products claim, or even several hours of protection are ludicrous, the EWG said, because most sunscreens start deteriorating in as quickly as 15 minutes. This doesn't even account for sweat and casual rubbing, further reducing protection.
Also, few sun-worshipers use the recommended shot-glass-amount of lotion with each application. We merely think we are protected; few really are.
Controversy, not just skin deep
The EWG also trashed any lotion containing harmful chemicals that can easily penetrate the skin. Oxybenzone, which blocks UVA, is a main offender. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found oxybenzone in the urine of just about everyone tested.
This chemical can promote DNA damage in the presence of sunlight. Oxybenzone and similar cancer-causing chemicals in sunscreens contribute to the minority view that sunscreens actually cause more and deadlier cancers than they prevent. Several small studies have found an increased risk of malignant melanoma, by far the deadliest form of skin cancer, among regular users of sunscreens.
Many zinc-based protects appear to be safe, according to the EWG. Until the FDA breaks its silence and offers some guidance, there's the EWG list of recommendations at https://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens2008. Or you can move to Seattle.
You and the Sun: 10 Burning Questions Little Known Facts about Skin Cancer Bad Habits: Why We Can't Stop
Christopher Wanjek is the author of the books "Bad Medicine" and "Food At Work." Got a question about Bad Medicine? LiveScience.
Original Story: Most Sunscreens Fail to Protect Visit LiveScience.com for more daily news, views and scientific inquiry with an original, provocative point of view. LiveScience reports amazing, real world breakthroughs, made simple and stimulating for people on the go. Check out our collection of Science, Animal and Dinosaur Pictures, Science Videos, Hot Topics, Trivia, Top 10s, Voting, Amazing Images, Reader Favorites, and more. Get cool gadgets at the new LiveScience Store, sign up for our free daily email newsletter and check out our RSS feeds today!