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is-wearing-sunblock-really-bad-for-you

Is Wearing Sunblock Really Bad For You?

I'm Dr Mike verovski board certified Family Medicine physician welcome to a new episode of Truth or Scare the claim on this episode is that sunscreen is harmful because it contains chemicals absorbed into your bloodstream that are linked to cancer and other health problems some even go further arguing that sunscreen is more dangerous than actual sun exposure do these claims hold any water let's get into it skepticism of sunscreen isn't new but it's really taken off in the last few years some wellness influencers and celebrities have gone as far as saying that there's no proof that excess sun exposure is even harmful or have argued that it's actually good for you and that covering up in any way prevents us from reaping its health benefits now there's a lot to say about that but I'd like to focus on the more pervasive argument first that sunscreen is inherently unhealthy for us when people say this they're primarily talking about chemical sunscreen because there's actually two types one chemical sunscreens which work by absorbing cancer causing UV rays from the Sun and making them harmless these sunscreens are easy to rub in and dry invisibly then there's mineral sunscreens which create a physical barrier in your skin to deflect those UV rays these lotions are typically thicker and tend to leave behind white residue naysayers single out very specifically chemical sunscreens because they're more likely to be absorbed through the skin and it is true that the active ingredients in chemical sunscreen called filters can be absorbed into the blood there's strong evidence of this from two FDA studies which found that SI six chemical UV filters entered the blood and stayed there for days some of these filters including oxybenzone have been linked to hormone disruption and altered kidney function thus far those effects have been found in animal research and in the most commonly cited of those research articles rats consumed large quantities of oxybenzone and food and to reach that same level through sunscreen exposure you'd need to apply it all over your body every day for 30 years but let's look at another filter octocrylene when used in sunscreen it naturally degrades into benzophenone a chemical suspected to be carcinogenic in one study researchers tested 16 different octocrylene based sunscreens and found benzophenone in all of them while some medical folks argue that it's only a small amount of chemicals and it's not clear what the risk actually is posed by the ingredient Yale dermatologist Dr bunck says we have a tendency in our society to say that it's such a small amount and therefore it's not harmful but The Chronic buildup of these chemicals could have a cumulative effect octocrylene has also caught the attention of environmental groups linking it a coral bleaching damage the Hawaii state senate has even gone as far as Banning the ingredient as well as petitioning the FDA for a complete National ban is a big step forward for the protection of our coral reefs marine life and human health it will be the first law passed not only in the country but in the entire world look before I give this claim a rating let's lead with some basic facts skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the US it's also one of the most preventable the worst type is melanoma and most cases are caused by exposure to UV radiation no surprise here that the sun is the most common source of UV radiation having five or more blistering sunburns between ages 15 and 20 increases your risk of melanoma by 80% this year alone invasive melanoma is projected to be the fifth most commonly diagnosed cancer for both men and women even putting the cancer risk aside think about your appearance just getting burned or being tan often causes visible sun damage see there are two types of UV rays A and B UVA are considered aging Rays while they don't necessarily cause Burns they break through the clouds and are responsible for things like wrinkles leathery texture and dark skin patches they're associated with an increased cancer risk but not as much as UVB rays which cause sunburns some sunblocks don't even do a good job at protecting from UVA rays so it's smart to take other precautions like going to the shade or covering up pretty cool because there's actually clothing made specifically for sun protection like swim shirts with UPF and UPF is a little different from the SPF you commonly see written on sunblocks in theory SPF from sunblock measures how much longer you can be in the sun before your skin starts to turn red with sunscreen vers without but probably it's more accurate to say that it's a measurement of solar energy protection mostly for the purposes of just comparing two different bottles so like an SPF 15 protects against 93% of UVB rays an SPF 50 protects against 98% now on the other hand UPF measures how much UV radiation can get through a fabric to reach your skin a basic cotton t-shirt naturally has a UPF of five blocking 80% of rays a specially designed UPF 50 Sun shirt blocks 98% of UV rays that's pretty solid sun protection but is there such thing as too much sun protection there there have been theories that lathering up and staying out of the sun can be harmful for our health including hurting our vitamin levels while it's true that sunlight is a major source of vitamin D a vital nutrient responsible for Healthy Living you can actually get most of what you need from just 15ish minutes of midday Sun several times a week in fact we don't even have evidence that wearing sunscreen impacts your vitamin D levels there's probably a few reasons for this one people can get vitamin D from dietary sources like salmon and egg two most people don't use enough sunscreen to fully prevent the absorption of UV rays so while the concern might sound logical and legit it's just not backed by research we know the chemicals can be absorbed into the body and we know certain ones are linked to health issues but in reality we're exposed to small amounts of chemicals all the time so just saying chemicals are bad isn't really helpful it requires research to find the dose that makes the poison and not just after one use but cumulatively as well and that research is absolutely ongoing after releasing that 2020 study the FDA called for more research on the effects of longer term exposure to the chemicals and ask the sunscreen industry to provide more safety information on 12 of them it makes sense to push our government to create better regulations that reduce our overall exposure to chemicals that are potentially bad for us but at the end of the day remember you don't need to use chemical sunscreen at all there's the second type mineral on screen which is commonly recommended for young children and pregnant women the main ingredients in those are zinc and titanium oxide and the FDA has reconfirmed that they are safe for General use and are free from the chemical controversy we just discussed understandably some don't like mineral sunscreens because they might leave some residue and this is where I have some really harsh criticism for the US many of the sunscreens sold here are just outdated in many other countries including France and Japan you can buy sunscreen with new we ingredient s that seem to be safer and more protective against even UVA rays they aren't available here because of an old FDA rule that classifies sunscreen as a drug which means it needs to be tested on animals before being approved for sale thankfully there's a new bill being passed in hopes of changing the animal testing requirement and speeding up approval look at the end of the day I wouldn't blame you if you want to use sunscreen without certain chemical filters like octocrylene or oxybenzone there's still many options for Quality sun protection but to say that all sunblock is poison or that sun exposure is completely safe that's a fullon lie the most important fact here is that while all these potential flags have been raised we still do not have causal proof that chemical sunscreen causes cancer or any other health issues in humans but what we do know is that it prevents cancer that's why you won't find any credible expert who tells you to skip sunscreen entirely the standard recommendation endorsed by every legit organization is to wear waterresistant broadspectrum sunscreen that's 30 SPF or higher on a daily basis even when it's cloudy on my 1 to 10 Truth or Scare scale this claim gets a four now click here to check out a video of amazing lifeguard rescues and as always stay happy and healthy [Music]

Dr.

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