Do sunscreens work? Sunscreens have been marketed to the public with the promise of protecting against skin cancers and photo-aging.
But melanoma rates worldwide have consistently risen despite using sunscreens. When you put the rubber to the road the results have been surprising. Evidence shows that suncreens increase the risk of skin cancer and also leave the skin exposed to a higher percentage of sun rays that break down collagen and elastin which equals sun blemishes and wrinkles.
Basal cell carcinomas doubled in women under age 40 with the incidence increasing from 13.4 per 100,000 to 31.6 per 100,000. Between 1992 and 2006, skin cancer procedures in the fee-for-service population increased by 76.9%.
What's going on? Melanin is the brown pigment made by melanocytes in the basal layer of the skin and it acts as a protective shield against the energy of UV radiation. When you apply sunscreen, you stop the body's natural process of creating more melanin that protects your cells.
Sunscreens give a false sense of protection and allow people to stay in the sun up to 50 times longer than they should. The sunscreen chemicals prevent sunburn and use up your natural antioxidants which leaves the skin open to radiation damage. UVA rays penetrate much deeper and create free radicals that create cellular damage leading to both skin cancers and aging.
Newer sunscreens came out in 2011 to filter both UVA and UVB radiation for a "full spectrum effect." Broad spectrum protection meant using a toxic cocktail of chemicals to cover specific portions of the solar spectrum.
Potent estrogens, antiestrogens, testosterones and antitestosterones can cause reproductive toxicity. A well known chemical used in sunscreen is benzophenone-3 - a reproductive toxicant. Why would we want to apply this on babies?
85% of all nursing mother's milk samples test positive for sunscreen chemicals. Phenols are another class of chemicals which have been outlawed in baby items, but remain in sunscreen. Phenols pass through the placenta and enter the fetus and cause general, thyroid and reproductive toxicity.
I recommend that every patient use Environmental Working Group Skin Deep database before buying sunscreens. EWG works hard to regulate an unregulated industry. They are doing the job that the FDA should be doing, but have sat on the paperwork for the last 30 plus years.
I offer chemical testing in blood to check for elevations of toxic chemicals and individualized treatment for different exposures. Second Nature patients use both DFH, Weleda and Xymogen skincare lines as these meet the non-toxic guidelines. WE ARE YOUR DETOX EXPERTS.
