Over the years we have had drilled into our consciousness that too much sun exposure is bad for our health and the way to avoid damaging our skin is to lather ourselves in sunscreen. A study by The American Cancer Society has stated that 80% of our total lifetime sun exposure occurs within the first 18 years of life so children in particular are at risk. Children are probably the most likely to be to be smothered in sunscreens by well meaning parents too. But is the sunscreen helpful or harmful?
Protection from the sun is important but the chemicals we put on our skin can be harmful, especially to our children and typical sunscreens have LOTS of chemicals.
Over the years the skin care industry has had to increase the level of chemical compounds in sunscreen in order to raise the Sun Protection Factor (SPF) level. Researchers from the University of Southern California have, however, recently found that sunscreen can actually cause more harm than good once it is soaked into the skin.
Upon absorption into the skin, sunscreen can actually form the very dangerous compounds it was meant to block. Researchers found that some commonly used ultraviolet (UV) filters actually soak into the skin’s layers and from there can generate harmful components called reactive oxygen species (ROS) which are substances that can cause skin cancer.
Other research has shown that the greatest increases in the cancer melanoma has been experienced in countries where chemical sunscreens are promoted and used widely. Mike Adams of Naturalnews.com often claims that sunscreen is a scam and that we have zero need for it.
In addition to the cancer risk is the effect of sunscreen on children’s development. Many sunscreen chemicals also have estrogen-like effects. Estrogen is a hormone that affects many aspects of the female body development and functions. Too much exposure to toxic estrogenic chemical sunscreens can increase cancers and cause birth defects in children.
Researchers have found estrogenic sunscreens in the breast milk of mothers at about the same levels as other known environmental contaminants such as PCBs. They further believe that exposure could be significantly increased in childhood by the large amount of sunscreen used by bathers, especially children. Children’s organs are more sensitive to estrogen exposure and can develop abnormalities at their early stages (including embryo, fetus and toddler stages) if exposed.
Limiting exposure to sun and seeking out more healthy skin products that do not contain dangerous ingredients (chemical free choices are available) are possible solutions for you to consider for your children. And we can’t forget hat sun exposure is a GOOD thing. We need sunlight exposure for good health so I will rarely apply sunblock to my own kids unless we are going to be in the sun for a prolonged length of time. Otherwise I just let them get some sun and/or use protective clothing to diminish risk. So for a few hours at the zoo…not likely to use it but I will have hats and sunglasses for them and we will be mindful to seek out some shade when we need it. But for an all day trip to the beach…yes I will bring some safe sunscreen.
So what exactly do you need to avoid when choosing a sunscreen? Here are some nasty ingredients you will want to stay away from if you can:
PABA: This is not widely used anymore, but just in case. Many people are very sensitive to this ingredient and can end up with red, itchy skin.
Benzophenone (benzophenone-3), homosalate, and octy-methoxycinnamate (octinoxate): These chemicals are bad news because they have shown estrogenic activity in lab tests. Oxybenzone is aderivative of benzophenone and it is linked to allergies, hormone disruption, and cell damage. According to the CDC 97% of Americans are contaminated with this widely-used sunscreen ingredient.
Parabens (butyl-, ethyl-, methyl-, and propyl-): Parabens are common in sunscreens so avoiding them may prove difficult. They are preservatives that have estrogenic qualities. They have produced abnormal hormonal effects following on laboratory rodents, particularly male, resulting in decreased testosterone levels and other abnormalities. They have also been found to accumulate in the breast tissue of women with breast cancer.
Padimate-O and Parsol 1789 (Avobenzone): While on the surface of the skin these chemicals appear to prevent UV damage but when absorbed into the skin they can actually damage DNA. There is evidence that the sun’s light may cause these chemicals to become reactive and cause free-radical damage when they’re absorbed. I find it alarming that pediatricians often recommend these very ingredients.
In general if you want to know which sunscreens are usually loaded with the bad stuff….oh just the easy to find ones like Coppertone, Banana Boat, Avon, Nivea, Neutrogena, The Body Shop, etc. Also even some of the ones that appear to be more natural like Kiss My Face or Aveeno have some pretty nasty sunscreens.
In general, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are good choices as they scatter or reflect the sun’s rays rather than absorbing them. And since traditional formulations are not absorbed into the skin (thus the white streaks on the skin), there is less risk of the substance building up in your body. Formulations with nano particles may be absorbed into the skin, although since these are natural minerals there is debate about this being an issue but I will point out the ones I know have them.
Here is a list of some of the safer sunscreens I have found:
TruKid’s SunnyDays sunscreen – Safe and affordable.
California Baby SPF 30 + Sunblock Stick – No Fragrance – My top pick for kids! This is a non chemical sunscreen. It uses non-penetrating titanium dioxide (no nano particles) to protect against the sun. It is also made with organic & sustainably grown ingredients.
Badger Face & Body Sunblock SPF 30 – There was huge run on this sunscreen not long ago and you could hardly get it. It is known to be one of the safest sunscreens out there.
Soleo Organics – grapeseed oil, macadamia oil, green tea extract, roman chamomile extract, sunflower oil, beeswax, theobroma butter, candelilla wax, lecithin, vegetable oils, cucumber extract, good stuff…
Miessence Organics Reflect Outdoor Balm SPF 15 – I have some if this and I like it…very clean smelling and not sticky. It is also made by a great company with organic ingredients. It has added antioxidants and beta carotene to help nourish skin and protect it.
ThinkBaby Sunscreen – New for 2010! Free of Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals, No Nano particles, Paraben Free and PABA Free.
Lavera Baby and Children Sun Screen Lotion, SPF 30 – Contains organic peach seed, apricot seed oil and calendula and protects against UV A, B and C rays with waterproof protection.
Dermalogica Ultra Sensitive Faceblock SPF 25 – Another chemical free sunblock using non-penetrating titanium dioxide. This has a hint of color…most likely to hide the streaky whiteness of the natural titanium dioxide.
Also don’t forget your protective gear…so you won’t need sunscreen as much:
Legionnaire Hats – These hats for kids have flaps on either side that protect the face, head, and neck areas from getting burned. They are also made with UV protective fabric.
Sunday Afternoon’s Kid’s Play Hat UPF 45 - Made of lightweight water-resistant supplex fabric, blocks UVA and UVB rays, rated 45 UPF. Full veil covers back of neck, mesh panels for ventilation, down-sloped flexible brim shades face.
Baby Banz Sunglasses – 100% UV/UVA & UVB ray protection. You can also get a sunglasses/hat combo.
Also Frubi Shades. I have used both of these brands with my own kids and I like them.
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Hello, What do you know about Arbonne’s sunscreen? Thank you in advance for your insight.
Hi, I would say to check the ingredients using http://www.sukipure.com, go to the “our ingredients” tab, choose, “ingredients to avoid”
Suki’s list is much more accurate and comprehensive than the comesticsdatabase found on EWG website. The EWG is trying but they fall so short….they do not have a good system in place for researching the ingredients. They do not have an accurate input system, yet all the companies are supposed to input their own ingredients list…
I would not trust the EWG, really sorry to say it. Suki’s research is accurate and the company is truthful..
I know Arbonne contains several ingredients to avoid. Again, get a tube, search online for ingredients in the Arbonne sutff on a site that sells Arbonne but also lists ingredients, then check on http://www.sukipure.com
Good luck. The ONLY safe sunscreen I have found is Badger Balm…I have researched every single one, (I think)!
ok, it looks like MiEssence is another safe sunscreen…I just checked it out and need to research capric triglyceride….will post back after I find out more about this ingredient.
K Mac
Hi K Mac,
Here’s a bit of info on caprylic triglyceride, it’s “fractionaded coconut oil” this is an oil (caprylic trigliceride) that that the micronized zinc oxide comes in from the ingredient supplier to the company (ONEgroup) that manufactures Miessence.
Caprylic/Capric Triglyceride, a mixed triester of caprylic and capric acids, is a highly refined medium chain triglyceride (MCT) oil possessing excellent oxidation stability with an almost indefinite shelf life. CCT is a desirable emollient with quick skin penetration and has no color, odor or taste. Great as a dispersing agent and useful as a solvent for vitamins and actives. Excellent as a superfatting oil in soapmaking and improves spreading of skincare formulas. Used in massage, it will not stain sheets. Also called Fractionated Coconut Oil. Cosmetic grade.
Hi Dana,
Unfortunately, Arbonne does not disclose their ingredients lists on their website, a major RED flag for me.
Very unfair to consumers who want to know what they are buying BEFORE they make a purchase not after.
You can look up some of the Arbonnne products on the EWG website:
there are 49 Arbonne products listed on EWG with ratings from moderate to high hazard ratings,
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/browse.php?brand_id=1427&&showmore=products&atatime=100
The one Arbonne sunscreen they did rate has a HIGH hazard rating.
http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/product.php?prod_id=94500&refurl=%2Fbrowse.php%3Fbrand_id%3D1427%26ingred06%3D704372%26
I guess you can make your own opinion about what you think of them.
If you have a bottle of the sunscreen in front of you, go to the EWG website and look up the ingredients that are used in the product.
Regards,
Erin
Thanks for the post! Green Healthy Baby has their chemical-free sunscreens on sale! Plus, I got a coupon for an extra 10% off with coupon code “Mom10″. I agree with your list– and I really like the Jason sunscreen too.
I love badger!!! It’s thick but it does the job!!! and great! It actually lsasts a long time and it’s waterproof. I used it in arizona one hot day when it was about 110 deg. and I forgot to re apply after a while and we were outside for 3 hours…We got no burns or even no tan lines…it was awesome!!!
What I do is making my own sunscreen – natural, completely chemicals free and cheap. My recipe is:
2 1/2 ounces coconut oil
1 1/2 ounces cocoa butter
1/2 ounce beeswax
4 ounces water
2 tablespoons zinc oxide
25 drops grapefruit seed extract
vitamin E (optional)
Melt oil, cocoa butter & beeswax over medium heat. Add water slowly while mixing – mix until creamy, add other ingredients.
I actually make my own natural baby salves, massage oils, etc. There are some more recipes here: http://www.greenkiddie.co.uk/Cosmetics.php
Where do you get pharmaceutical grade zinc oxide
The sun is indeed very important to our health, as it’s our main source of Vitamin D. I follow your same line of thought as far as sunscreen use and only ever use it when I know I’ll be in the sun for a very long period of time.
My favorite brands are Jason and Burt’s Bees.
[...] and deflect rays. Here’s a list of safe sunscreens from Nature Mom’s Blog post “Safe Sunscreens for the Family” [...]
have you heard about Soleo Sunscreen? It is all organic and natural tested by ewg.com . I absolutely love this one.
http://www.summerforkids.com
Adriana,
based upon the description for the soleo sunscreen on your website it appears that Soleo uses nanoparticles in their sunscreen:
http://www.summerforkids.com/SOLEO_ORGANICS_SUNSCREEN_SAFE_ORGANIC_NATURAL.html
“revolutionary nanofine zinc technology to provide comprehensive sun protection, without leaving your skin white.”
if this is correct, I would not want to put this on my kids or myself.
I’m wondering about that too. I have a 2 bottles of Soleo and on the label it says “non-nano zinc”. I wonder if they had a formula change or my labels are wrong? I went to the Soleo website and didn’t see anything there. I will ask them! Thanks so much for finding that!
check out this link too. It says Nano-Free
http://www.skin-care-support.org/products/soleo-organics-sunscreen.html
I love this post and my organic children store carries Soleo Sunscreen ! my organic baby
and I use it and love it.
I like Badger, but not crazy about the scent. I do see they make an unscented version now. I have Loving Naturals for this year and really like it!
I just got Dr. Mercola’s natural sunscreen. What do you know about that?
http://products.mercola.com/summer-survival-kit/
We like it and it has no chemicals or nano particles.
Never seen it before Jill. I will look into it.
Dr. Mercola’s sunscreen is decent, the main difference between what miessence does and Dr. Mercola: he uses Tiatnium Dioxide, an ingredient that miessence feels is unstable and unless it has some kind of coating on it, it creates free radicals when exposed to sunlight.
also miessence only uses active ingredients, every ingredient in miessence is beneficial and active.
Dr. Mercola Sunscreen
Active Ingredients
Titanium Dioxide (6.0%), Zinc Oxide (22.5%)
Inactive Ingredients
Deionized Water, Sun ower Oil, Lecithin, Coconut Oil,
Glycerine, Xanthan Gum, Green Tea Extract, Jojoba Oil,
Tocopheryl Acetate (Vitamin E), Retinyl Palmitate (Vitamin
A), Shea Butter, Eucalyptus Oil.
Thx Erin!
Titanium dioxide is not ideal since it has the ability to cause DNA damage in human cells and there is some concern that it may be carcinogenic. I use Kabana Green Screen Organic Skin Tone Tinted Sunscreen, a zinc oxide sunscreen. It doesn’t have nanoparticles and doesn’t make my skin white.
i love soleo. its organic and its 100% natural and no chemical additives. My whole family uses it.
thank you Erin!!!! What a bad typo! I really appreciate you catching it and telling me about!!!!!!!
Soleo uses NON Nano particles
I absolutely LOVE the MiEssence sun screen — L O V E that it is packed with only good, organic to the food-grade level ingredients! So pure you can eat it!
[...] protection and healthier ingredients to earn the EWG’s “green” rating. In my safer sunscreens post I have highlighted some of the ones that received top honors on their [...]
Hi there, just wondering where most of these sunscreens are available? I am from Canada and i have noticed that drugstores don’t carry these name brands. Do I need to go to Natural or Herbal store? Thanks in advance.
Online will be your best bet Melissa.
thanks! Any good websites to recommend? Are they expensive?
In case you are interested Melissa, the Environmental Working Group just came out with their 2010 sunscreen recommendations.
They reviewed 500 sunscreens and out of all of those they only recommended 39 of them.
Best Beach & Sport Sunscreens
http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/best-beach-sport-sunscreens/
miessence Reflect Outdoor Balm is in the top recommendations.
You can purchase miessence online on my website and we do ship to Canada.
http://elyorganics.mionegroup.com/en/product/13430
it is labeled SPF 15 Due to regulations in Australia for SPF ratings, miessence would have to have this product manufactured in a licensed SPF facility (instead of their own manufacturing plant) to claim an SPF higher than 15. **miessence submitted it for third party testing which gave it a rating of SPF level 29.5″
thanks so much for those great websites! Just curious is the Miessence good for toddlers? Is the SPF high enough?
Hi Melissa,
did you read the sunscreen report?
ther eis also Top Sun Safety Tips provided as part of the article.
http://www.ewg.org/2010sunscreen/top-sunscreen-tips/
read the tips and you can decide if miessence is what you are looking for.
SPF 29.5 is a good level. You’ll be hard pressed to find a sunscreen that is over SPF 30 and is still on the recommend list.
when I was a kid we used straight zinc oxide on our nose and face. that’s white, and is a complete physical blocker. I used to swim and be outside all day when I was a kid and I grew up in New Mexico.
Erin
So glad to see all this great information on here!
I’m a somewhat new father of twins and here in California we have been spending A LOT of time out in the sun whenever possible. Up until I read this blog this evening, my wife and I had just been using lots and lots of baby oil on our little ones when we headed out to the beach (I know what you are thinking, but don’t worry it is organic).
So far it has been working well, but now I’m definitely going to search for these brands at the store.
Does anyone know how Blue Lizard Sunscreen is? I’ve heard that’s it’s a decent sunscreen.