[mmasters]

84% of sunscreen products are harmful to health, says alarming EWG study Monday, July 09, 2007 by: Mike Adams

For 29 years, the FDA has refused to publish safety standards for sunscreen products. That's nearly three decades of keeping the public in the dark about the extremely harmful, cancer-causing chemicals found in sunscreen products. Any idea why the Food and Drug Administration has taken so long to set safety standards for a product used by over 100 million Americans? If you guessed, "Because the greedy corporations selling the toxic sunscreen products don't want the FDA to study the safety of their products," give yourself golden star sticker. You got it! The FDA has no interest in protecting the public from cancer-causing personal care products, and that simple fact is made abundantly clear by the FDA's 29-year delay to establish basic safety guidelines.

As is increasingly the case, non-profit groups are now doing the job the FDA should be doing but refuses to do. In this case, the Environmental Working Group (www.EWG.org), one of my top recommended non-profit organizations, has compiled a list of 700 name-brand sunscreens along with the toxic chemicals they contain. You'll find the list at http://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/

As the EWG reports, many sunscreen products contain cancer-causing chemicals that get absorbed right through the skin:

Some sunscreens absorb into the blood and raise safety concerns. Our review of the technical literature shows that some sunscreen ingredients absorb into the blood, and some are linked to toxic effects. Some release skin-damaging free radicals in sunlight, some act like estrogen and could disrupt hormone systems, several are strongly linked to allergic reactions, and still others may build up in the body or the environment. FDA has not established rigorous safety standards for sunscreen ingredients.

After 29 years of debate, the government has failed to set mandatory sunscreen safety standards. Companies are free to make their own decisions on everything from advertising claims to product quality. In lieu of setting final standards, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises people to stay out of the sun from 10 am to 4 pm. FDA now stands in direct violation a Congressional mandate requiring the agency to finalize sunscreen safety standards by May 2006, flouting not only Congress but also consumers, who are reliant on sunscreen to protect their health.

84% of sunscreen products harm consumers
As the EWG's research reveals, an incredible 84% of sunscreen products are harmful to consumers. You read that right: More than four out of five sunscreen products actually harm the people who use them.

That's no surprise to NewsTarget readers, of course. We've been sounding the alarm on the toxicity of sunscreen products for years. We've also hammered at the sick conspiracy between the cancer industry and the sunscreen industry to keep people diseased so that both industries make more money. Read my article The Sunscreen Myth to learn more.

As NewsTarget readers have known for a long time, sunscreen products are a hoax, and they actually cause cancer instead of preventing it. The more consumers use sunscreen products, the greater their chance of someday being diagnosed with cancer. Part of this is due to sunscreen's effect of blocking ultraviolet radiation (UV light), which generates the powerful anti-cancer nutrient Vitamin D in human skin. Vitamin D is quite simply the world's best anti-cancer medicine, and recent studies have shown that it can prevent nearly four out of five cancers in women (ALL cancers, including breast cancer, cervical cancer, lung cancer, brain tumors, multiple myeloma and even skin cancer). Click here to read NewsTarget articles on Vitamin D.

The Environmental Working Group, sadly, still does not recognize the healing power of Vitamin D and continues to recommend that people avoid sunlight. This is merely an oversight by the group, not any sort of malicious disinformation conspiracy. The EWG means well, but they remain ignorant of the nutritional impact of vitamin D. They're experts on toxicology, not nutrition, and they still suffer under the illusion that the less sunlight consumers receive on their skin, the healthier they will be (hence the EWG's insistence that sunscreen products with ineffective UV blocking are also "unsafe"). The EWG also seems to be completely unaware that the best sunscreen is internal sunscreen built from antioxidants. Eat lots of berries, spirulina, chlorella and superfoods, and you'll build up a natural, internal sunscreen that blocks excess UV rays naturally.

Despite these gaps in EWG's knowledge on nutrition, I completely agree with the EWG's stance on exposure to toxic chemicals, and that's the strength of their outstanding work. As they conclude about sunscreen products:

...we also sorely need policies that would require companies to document the safety of chemicals before they go on the market. And, most importantly, we need policies that would require that chemicals be safe for the fetus, infant, and other vulnerable populations -- a simple, commonsense idea completely absent from current federal law. Such advances would dramatically improve our understanding of health impacts from chemical exposures, and would go a long way toward sealing the gaps that leave consumers at risk from a lifetime of exposure to chemicals.

Below, we reprint the full EWG press release announcing this new sunscreen database:


First-ever online database rates sunscreen safety and effectiveness
Today, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) released the first-ever, in-depth analysis of the safety and effectiveness of more than 700 name-brand sunscreens. The new database lists products that offer the best combination of safety and effectiveness: they are formulated with the safest chemicals, are most effective at protecting against sunburn, and help prevent long-term damage caused by the sun's UVA rays, which are linked to skin aging, wrinkling and, potentially, cancer.

The analysis found that 84 percent of 785 sunscreen products with an SPF rating of 15 or higher offer inadequate protection from the sun's harmful rays, or contain ingredients with safety concerns. Ironically, some popular sunscreen chemicals break down when exposed to sunlight and must be formulated with stabilizing chemicals. Others penetrate the skin and present significant health concerns.

This ground-breaking research is based on nearly 400 peer-reviewed studies of the 17 sunscreen chemicals approved for use in the U.S., an analysis of sunscreen ingredient toxicity linked to 60 industry and government databases on chemical hazards, coupled with customized, product-by-product assessments of protection from both UVA and UVB radiation.

"Always use sunscreen", said Jane Houlihan, Vice President for Research at EWG, "but not all sunscreens are created equal." "Our research shows that some products are far more effective than others, while presenting fewer safety concerns. Before we launched this website, the consumer had no way to identify the safest and most effective sunscreens."

"The SPF rating on the product is helpful, but it is only part of what a consumer needs to know," said Houlihan. "Our rating system includes critical information on UVA protection, how stable the product is in the sun, and potential health hazards of the product's ingredients."

"EWG has conducted this research because the FDA has failed to do so. With over one million cases of skin cancer reported each year people should have the most reliable information available about which sunscreens will provide the best protection for themselves and their families," Houlihan added.

The report and website rank products for combined safety and effectiveness, help consumers recognize bogus claims on sunscreen products, and provide tips for safety in the sun.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not finalized comprehensive sunscreen standards that have been in development for 29 years. When complete, these rules will standardize a rating system for UVA protection, and prohibit misleading and inaccurate claims such as "waterproof" and "lasts all day" that are commonly found on sunscreen products.

In response to FDA's failure to set enforceable standards for sunscreen, citizens have filed nine class-action, false-advertising lawsuits in California; the Connecticut state Attorney General has petitioned the Agency to set standards; and six Senators have written FDA, urging the Agency to issue sunscreen regulations to protect the public from skin cancer.

The database can be found at: http://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/

http://www.newstarget.com/021927.html

[KhanCEO]

I stopped using sunscreen a few years ago because I suspected the sunscreen was more harmful than the sun. I always thought it was a little silly for not using sunblock, but it appears I was right about the sunscreen or at least most of the sunscreen on the market.

Thanks for posting this information.

[dukey]

thanks for the information
im slowly waking up to the fact that a lot drugs especially are flat out unsafe. The FDA and the EPA are completely broken and do not protect consumers.

[eastbay]

Moderation. All things in moderation. All things.

There is a time and a place for an occasional light application of sunscreen. Mostly, I now use a wide brimmed hat and a shirt instead of sunscreen, but every now and then I cover my ears and nose with a light layer of the stuff.

Remember, you can OD on water. That doesn't make water bad.

[threadbear]

Complete avoidance of sun is contributing to Vitamin D deficiency which is linked to rickets, poor calcium absorption and increased incidents of breast cancer.

There also seems to be a strong correlation between lack of sunshine and multiple sclerosis. I wouldn't be at all surprised to hear that many low grade depressions, as well as seasonal affective disorder are directly related to lack of sun.

Lack of sun exposure is likely going to turn out to be a dominant factor in low libido, too. Animals secrete more reproductive hormones with increased exposure to natural daylight,and if you keep them in captivity you see how strong a role sunlight plays in that process.

Skin cancer seems a small price to pay and if sun screens are now implicated in cancer, I'll take my chances on the sun. After all, it is only a small number of skin cancers that become a real problem. Most of them can be removed with little problem.

Modern medicine causes far more problems than it cures. My husband recently had to cut back on his blood pressure medication. It was causing depression and he was breaking out in severe rashes which caused boils, etc..etc... It turns out he was probably overmedicated-- as what is considered "normal" blood pressure keeps going down every few years. That is likely thanks to pressure or B.S. from the pharemecuetical companies. Anyway, even if he does end up living a few years less, it's worth it to live those years wel

[jupiters_release]

Don't forget the soaps, detergents, toiletries, and cosmetics you use, those are loaded with toxic chemicals as well.

7th Generation and Ecover are safe brands big in the NYC organic markets.

[I_Like_Plants]

I'll be out in the sun tomorrow in my Goodwill long sleeved shirt, those things rule for hot days. Good old button up job, they're cool, the collar keeps sun off of the neck, too. And my boonie hat, gotta have a boonie hot when out all day.

I get plenty of sun around here, but a long afternoon in it, results in redness and soreness. The Indians used to avoid the middle of the day if they had their choice, and used to cover up with clothes or mud otherwise - hence all those snide comments by Mark Twain about the dirtiness of the Indians. It was just sunscreen!

This thread makes me glad I could not afford sunscreen most of my life, so have not used it as much as affluent folks. Out of 5 kids none of us ever broke a bone, and none of our friends who spent tons of time in the sun ever did.

[Stratovarius]

What else are we using daily that is slowly killing us?

[Stratovarius]

Holy shit, I started looking in their cosmetic database...I just found out the creams and shampoos I use all the time for my dandruff and my acne are raping my body (including my acne scar treatment which received a rating of 10 big ones). Not to mention good ol' deodorant.

Hmm, do I continue using it just until it all stops? or do I stop now?

[jupiters_release]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('Stratovarius', 'W')hat else are we using daily that is slowly killing us?

[frankthetank]

Yeah. Don't overheat Teflon, it kills birds so i doubt it can be healthy for you.

Stratovarius-
National Geographic magazine had a story not long ago about what's in your body (the reporter had his blood tested) and there was a whole list of goodies. Some were in the parts per billion and some were from earlier in his life. The scary thing is that had this test been done in the 1800's or even early 1900's, the tests would probably have been clean. I do agree that its probably not going to kill you, you are still way more likely to get killed by a car.

[jupiters_release]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('frankthetank', 'D')on't heat Teflon.

[Cyrus]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('frankthetank', 'Y')eah. Don't overheat Teflon, it kills birds so i doubt it can be healthy for you.

Stratovarius-
National Geographic magazine had a story not long ago about what's in your body (the reporter had his blood tested) and there was a whole list of goodies. Some were in the parts per billion and some were from earlier in his life. The scary thing is that had this test been done in the 1800's or even early 1900's, the tests would probably have been clean. I do agree that its probably not going to kill you, you are still way more likely to get killed by a car.

[sunflowersue]

It's amazing how the more sunscreens are used, the more skin cancer rates have gone up! I too believe we need the vitamin D boost more than we need to worry about skin cancer, but hey I'm vain--I don't want the wrinkles! So far about the only sunscreen I've found that is certified organic and doesn't contain even titanium oxide (linked to DNA problems) is Soleo Organics. You can probably find it in stores but I bought mine from www.carenonline.com.Caren Online (not sure if I linked that right) But anyway, if anyone knows of another good sunscreen for those of us worried about wrinkles, let us know.

[OilIsMastery]

You'd think, after reading this thread, that all you have to do to live forever is avoid sunscreen and cosmetics...LOL

I've got news for you. You're still dead meat even if you don't use that crap.

[smiley]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('', 'W')e were made to live in the sun.