By Heidi Kutzelnig
There are many schools of thought surrounding sunscreen. On the one hand, excessive exposure to ultraviolet light (sunlight) can cause skin cancer. On the other hand, sunscreen is a carcinogen-laden substance that you are putting on your skin, and ultimately into your body.
When it comes to your health, it seems like you’re damned if you do and you’re screwed if you don’t. You’re absolutely right to think that. Not to worry though, all is not lost. Let’s discuss when to slop it on and when to go bare.
We need vitamin D, and we can manufacture it with the help of cholesterol and my close friend, the sun. Without enough, we experience symptoms like fatigue and irritability (think SAD, Seasonal Affective Disorder). It is also necessary for a wide variety of metabolic processes that help you maintain homeostasis, which I taught you all about last month. Having said that, we can benefit greatly from a moderate amount of sunshine on a regular basis. The right amount of sun exposure varies from person-to-person depending upon skin tone and tolerance.
If you have very fair skin or just burn easily, sunscreen should be your close friend. Here are a few things you may not know about sunscreen. SPF stands for Sun Protection Factor. The SPF represents the length of time you can stay out in the sun without burning, multiplied by the number of minutes you would typically go without burning, without any sun protection. So theoretically, a person who would normally start to burn in 10 minutes could have 150 minutes of sun protection with a sunscreen that has an SPF of 15. Keep in mind that when testing, they use more sunscreen than any civilized human being would and they do not take into account factors such as the daily UV index, sweating, clothing rubbing against the skin, and water sports (which can wear the sunscreen off). Realistically, I would estimate an SPF 15 to last for about an hour, SPF 30+ two hours (anything above 30, in my opinion, is useless, you need to reapply as you see fit).
Lastly, the SPF number only relates to ultraviolet B (UVB) protection. Ultraviolet A (UVA) protection is not measured through SPF numbers, and until recently, frequently was not available in sunscreens. UVB rays are more potent, quicker to produce sunburns, and have been linked to skin cancer. UVA is associated with aging of the skin, and along with UVB exposure, may increase risk or facilitate skin cancer. UVA though milder, is still not completely safe.
To make things just a little bit more difficult for you, I need to inform you of one last factor to consider: what you put on your skin is absorbed into your bloodstream. It’s that simple.
Give the ingredients list on your body care products a look see, Google the terms you can’t pronounce. The results of this experiment should scare you. Think of your skin as a sponge that covers your whole body (referred to as a semi-permeable membrane in geek speak). Here is a list of common body care ingredients that are suspected or known carcinogens and/or hormone disrupters for you to try and avoid:
- di/tri ethanolamine (DEA, TEA)
– padimate-o,
– octyl/dimethyl paraamino benzoic acid (PABA)
– benzophenone
– oxybenzone
– homosalate
– octyl-methoxycinnamate (octinoxate)
– salicylates
– parabens
It really is a matter of choosing the lesser of two evils when it comes to your health. Too much sunscreen is clearly not as harmless as you may have originally thought, but too much sun is just dangerous. Get to know your skin and remember my mantra: Moderation.