The associated press released a little snippet about sunblock being bad for you and “causing cancer”. Totally not true. I first heard about it on Howard Stern when Robin was reading the news, and I nearly drove off the road as they were all chatting that they weren’t going to wear sunblock anymore!!!
The issue at hand is that some sunblocks were found to not have as much UV-A protection as they claim to. UV-B protection is usually the SPF (sun protection factor) they are referring to. UV-A is most frequently the causative agents of some skin cancers. The environmental working group is just releasing 2010 Sunscreen Guide which they tested 1400 different sunscreens indepedently to test their validity of SPF claims.
Go check out their web site and see if your brand is listed as a good one, if not, then toss it and grab a brand that has UV-A and B protection!! PS- they also found that the SPF’s greater than 30 (i.e. 55, 75, etc) don’t have any more protection for UV-A than SPF 30, but more UV-B protection. SPF is never a bad thing to wear, it protects your skin from the damage of the sun and it keeps your skin looking younger and healthier.
Enjoy the outdoors and the beautiful weather but PLEASE put on sunblock!!! Just grab one that has UV-A protection too….if you want that fab deep tan look, just rock out with a self tanner, you spare yourself the wrinkles down the road and you can choose what color you are (and no, you don’t have to have that beautiful orange glow of the days past!)
Yours in Good Health
B
Neutrogena 70 spf with helioplex is the best sunblock I've ever used. Like the blog – keep up the good work. take care.
Oh my, they make an SPF 70?! Nurse Bridgid, is there a level of SPF we should stop at? Thinking (a) that at a certain level the UV-B is blocked and higher levels are just overkill (and uncomfortable), and (b) that we won't get enough vitamin D??
I don't think there is a specific cut off for SPF, but I do think that since they are mostly the same after SPF 25, I think that is a good limit. And, that is an important point, Eliza, we do need some sun exposure (outside of 10am-4pm) without sunblock so that we can absorb Vitamin D. Children are getting rickets again because they are vitamin d deficient from wearing too much sunblock!! So, use your best judgement and what works for your skin tone 🙂
We have an awesome natural sunscreen that protects against uva and uvb. Check it out!