Tom Raftery's Library tagged sunscreen →  View Popular, Search in Google

The Environmental Working Group's 2010 sunscreen guide

environmental Working Group sunscreen

The original Ask Pablo article answering this question was very popular and the Environmental Working Group has just published its 2010 Sunscreen Guide. Since summer is right around the corner, this topic is more relevant than ever. The following article is completely updated based on the findings of the 2010 report and also takes into account reader feedback to the previous article.

sunscreen pablo skin cancer cancer

I have heard that sunscreen actually causes more skin cancer than it prevents. Is there any truth to this?

It sounds unbelievable but there is actually some truth here. In 2009, the Environmental Working Group released a major study on sunscreen, in which they independently tested almost 2000 sunscreens. Only 1 in 10 sunscreens offer superior protection and healthier ingredients. There are two main concerns about sunscreen; the protection that they offer, and the chemicals that they contain.

sunscreen

A sunscreen’s SPF, or sun protection factor, measures how much the product shields the sun’s shorter-wave ultraviolet B rays, known as UVB radiation, which can cause sunburn. It used to be that SPF topped out at 30. No more. These days, a race is on among sunscreen makers to create the highest SPF that R&D can buy.

If adequately applied, sunscreens with sky-high SPFs offer slightly better protection against lobster-red burns than an SPF 30. But they don’t necessarily offer stellar protection against the more deeply penetrating ultraviolet A radiation, or so-called aging rays.

sun sunscreen spf greenmonktv