Tip of the Day - Lay off the Nanoparticles
Posted on May 19, 2008 by
Everyone knows about the importance of wearing sunscreen. Sunscreen good, sunburn bad, right? Eh. . . it’s a little more complicated than that.
Last year, I did a post about nanoparticles in sunscreen, but since we’re getting into sunscreen season, I thought I’d mention it again.
In very simple terms, nanoparticles are what makes sunscreen go on clear. Natural sunscreen is thicker and leaves a milky film on your skin. And while it’s nice to wear sunscreen without looking like an extra from Revenge of the Nerds, the concern is that smaller particles equal increased absorption of icky ingredients into your blood stream, cells, and organs. A Friends of the Earth study from last year showed that nanoparticles can even disrupt DNA.
Of course, you want to protect yourself from skin cancer, so consider covering up a little more when possible. Wear a hat and long sleeves when gardening, hiking, etc. Or use a sunscreen that is nanoparticle free.
Last year, I bought a tube of Burt’s Bees Chemical Free Sunscreen, which uses titanium dioxide as a barrier between the sun and your skin. Even thought it was a little thick, which made it hard to distribute on my skin, once it went on, it was very effective. The problem was, I absolutely couldn’t stand the smell (which is totally a matter of personal preference, so if you see it in the store, take a whiff and see how it goes). This year, I’ve been using Aubrey Organics Natural Sun, which smells like jelly beans and is a little thinner. It does, however, contain Padimate, which isn’t the nicest chemical out there, so I’m still on a search for a better sunscreen.
What do you use?
Thanks for this post, Allie. I’m really glad to read about the dangers of sunscreen.
Generally, I don’t use anything but then I suffer terrible burns. The reason I don’t use anything is because sunscreen blocks the body’s ability to absorb Vit D which Sun gives off. Since I’m covered up most of the year I like to let my skin feel the touch of Sun and absorb the benefits of such. But when I do go to the beach, hiking, or out in the sun for a while I use the cheap sunscreen, stuff I’ve had for years. Now I’ll have to change brands to one your talking about.
This is a hard call, because I’m in serious danger of skin cancer with my family history, fair skin, and personal history of getting burned. That seems worse than the chemical effect of sunscreen, and I need a good waterproof, since I spend most of my beach days in the water.
I never realized how scary sunscreen was until a friend of mine broke out into a serious rash on every part of her body that had sunscreen after she accidentally ate dish soap (it was in the same dispenser as the salad dressing, and it was lemon scented, so she didn’t realize what she had done until later.) I guess that was a convoluted way of saying I agree with you. I’ll experiment this summer and let you know if I find a good alternative.
HH, you scared me when you said you don’t use anything. The sun doesn’t give off Vitamin D; your skin produces it when it’s exposed to UV rays. Just 10-15 minutes of UV exposure a couple times a week is sufficient to keep you from going into deficiency. You can get that exposure walking to get your mail and lingering for a few minutes. Remember, sunscreen doesn’t block all the UV for an indefinate amount of time; you’re still getting exposure that will produce Vitamin D.
This is such a complicated issue, Allie. Thanks for bringing it up.
EWG looked at the safety and efficacy of over 1,000 sunscreens last year, and 86% of them either offered inadequate sun protection or contained nasty, potentially toxic ingredients.
Like you, we recommended zinc and titanium based sunscreens — we found they were the most effective and carried the least health risk. But we differed from FOE in that, in this one instance, we felt comfortable recommending products that may contain nano-scale zinc or titanium. The risk of skin cancer from using ineffective chemical sunscreens is higher than the perceived health risks of nanoparticles, basically.
Ideally we’d all be wearing physical (mineral) sunblocks, like you suggest. It’s so frustrating that companies don’t have to label products that contain nano-scale ingredients!
Here’s a link to EWG’s sunscreen report: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/special/sunscreens/
And to the FAQ about nanoparticles in sunscreen: http://www.cosmeticsdatabase.com/faq.php#30
You had me at “smells like jelly beans”.
I used to sunbathe without sun cream as a younger person and it scares me now to think I did. It didn’t do my skin any favours either.
Now I go nowhere in spring or summer without a liberal coating of SPF 15. I use Nivea stuff just because it is the one thing I have found that stops me burning and doesn’t give me a rash. But I’m sure it’s not a good product ethically. But I”m kind of scared to try something new.
As a fair skinned red head, I generally use the cover up method as my first resort. Then I use California Baby sunscreen, mostly, but if I’m caught somewhere without my tube, I’ll use whatever I can find. I’ll burn to blisters in just over ten minutes on a sunny day.
I didn’t know about nanoparticles, so this is useful information. Thanks!
Curious to know your thoughts on after sun products..The big yellow ball in the sky made an appearance up here in Seattle over the weekend, and I’m faced with a painful burn..after reading your post on sunscreens, I started to think whether the standard drugstore type products also contained lil’ nasties…
Amanda — thanks for all the great info on this!
I do think it’s very important to wear sunscreen, so I’m certainly not saying that — but go for good stuff.
And go to the dermatologist to get checked for skin cancer. I go every six months because I’m fair skinned and have a lot of beauty marks. I had a mole removed (turned out to be nothing) last year. It was something I was always so scared of, but it really was no big deal. Didn’t even feel a thing.
As far as I know, no one has had skin cancer in my family, but I’m doing my best to not take any risks. I have rosacea, so finding anything I can use on my face is very difficult. I’d like to try the Aubrey Organics, but I’m not sure if I can put it on my face…it’s so frustrating that even when you’re trying to protect yourself, you’re still putting yourself at risk using sunscreen! I’ve been using Chetaphil Daily Facial Moisturizer SPF 15 for a year now, and so far, so good, but I know Cetaphil products aren’t the best.