Summer Knowledge: What’s in That Sunscreen?

By | June 25th, 2007 1 Comment

sunscreen.jpgEver wondered what the difference was between the myriad varieties of sunblock on the market? There’s more to it than simple SPF factors. More chemicals than you can shake a stick at, some unregulated, abound in the many brands and varieties. To make sense of it all you need a massive database and a lot of research. Fortunately, the folks over at Cosmetics Safety Database have not only done that work, but they’ve ranked them in terms of safety and effectiveness. The bottom line is that, according to their work, some sunblock may be worse for you than doing nothing at all, and a handful of brands truly live up to their claims while being non-toxic at the same time. Check it out.

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  • http://enviroblog.org Amanda

    Thanks for the mention, Nick!

    EWG doesn’t actually think that some sunscreens are worse than nothing at all. In the end, any sunscreen –even the one we rank the lowest — is better than no sunscreen. While many of the sunscreens we looked at were less effective than their claims would imply to commonsense, and many of them contain potentially harmful chemicals, avoiding sun exposure (including using any sunscreen) would go a long way to reducing the over 1 million cases of skin cancer each year in the United States.

    The bottom line is that consumers should wear plenty of sunscreen — one that protects well against UVA and UVB rays and that remains effective while out in the sun.