“Safety of many sunscreen ingredients is in doubt – should we worry?” was the title of a NewScientist article published this week.
It poses the question whether we should be more worried about the chemicals in the sunscreen we apply in large amounts, than the effects of the sun itself.
I wanted to talk about this issue, especially as we hit one of, if not THE, hottest temperature(s) on record in the UK this week (38°C). Many of you will be layering on the sunscreen thickly, especially if you look like me!
The article describes how the FDA in America has declared that “only two of the original 16 ‘safe’ ingredients in sunscreen can actually be considered safe and effective”.
The FDA followed up this revelation in February of this year with their own published study in May. It looked at four ingredients in the human system after volunteers used them four times a day for four days.
Within this short time period “not only did all four chemicals turn up in the blood, they did so at levels that demand further research to make sure they aren’t causing cancer“.
Hope you enjoy it – if you have any comments or questions on advice, please do let me know in the comments or directly!
