Safe Sunscreens!!

It's summertime, and that means swimming pools and sprinklers and sunburns and vacations...so I want to share a resource with you that helps in picking out safe sunscreens.  I'm all business today.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG - I LOVE these people!) came out with their updated Sunscreen Guide for 2011 that lists pretty much ANY sunscreen you can think of.  My mom discovered this resource last year, and it rocks.  It rates the sunscreens on safety in various categories and gives you an overall number.  A rating of 1 or 2 means low hazard, and the numbers go all the way up to 10.  And keep in mind that kids absorb much more of the toxins that they are exposed to than adults do, so pick a 1 or 2 if at all possible for the little ones. Once you click on the link above, you can peruse the site.  Or, for the less patient among you, just click on the Best Sunscreens tab to see the 134 best-rated sunscreens.  At any point you can use the search tool on the site to check out the rating for a particular sunscreen (check out the one you've been using - I bet it's a high, nasty number...last year mine all were, dang it!!)

A quick run-down of the crazy truth about most sunscreens commonly sold in the U.S...3 out of 5 U.S. sunscreens wouldn't pass muster (because of harmful ingredients) in Europe.  Over 60% of SPF 30+ that EWG tested don't adequately protect from UVA rays.  Many sunscreens are still made with Vitamin A (Retinyl Palmitate) even after the FDA reported that, when exposed to the sun, this ingredient may heighten skin cancer risk.  Umm - what?!?  Not cool.  

Read this to find out more about the chemicals in sunscreens, their harmful effects, and the mineral vs non-mineral sunscreen debate.   For the record, this is what EWG has to say about this debate: "Though no ingredient is without hazard or perfectly effective, on balance our ratings tend to favor mineral sunscreens because of their low capacity to penetrate the skin and the superior UVA protection they offer."

My Recommendations

If you're up for re-applying every 45 mins to an hour, I recommend Caribbean Solutions.  It's broad spectrum, which is a good thing.  It smells nice.  It's not overly greasy.  Some random hippy guy at the health food store recommended this one to me when I was looking at the sunscreens.  I didn't ask for his help and was a little taken aback by his very enthusiastic and borderline pushy advice.  He was the guy giving samples of hemp necklaces or hemp smoothies or something.  I cut him off as quickly as possible because I was in a hurry (Micah and Dougie were waiting for me in the car), and he was talking on and on about coral reefs and how this sunscreen is safe for the reefs and I was thinking, "Dude, I love the reefs and that's great and all, but my priority is my kids' skin and I'm not going to buy this reefy sunscreen without looking at the EWG website to see if it's actually going to help prevent CANCER or not!"  So, I was (mildly) rude and left with what I thought was the kind from the list.  When I got home, imagine my surprise (and embarrassment) when I discovered that a) I'd bought the wrong kind and b) the Hippie Hemp Guy's recommendation WAS on the list.  So, I returned the cancer bomb ones and promptly found the cheapest place online to get the Reef-Saving Hippie Screen.  It looks uber crunchy.  It works, and so far I really like it.  The only problem is, I'm not totally into applying every 45 minutes, so I'm going to try another one at some point soon.  Probably All Terrain.

The screen we go with for Douglas is Badger.  It's ridiculously clean ingredient-wise and smells lightly of lavendar (essential oil).   It's a little intense to rub it in (you have to rub more than you may be used to to get the white to rub in, but it does rub in well with a little effort, and your kid won't look like a ghost).  This stuff REALLY WORKS.  I mean, seriously...nothin's getting through this stuff.  I read some reviews on Amazon that said people burned with this on...all I know is that Douglas and his two cousins are all in the sun a lot and none of them have ever burned with this stuff on...it's really, really good.

Btw, my favorite cheap place online for a large variety of natural products is Vitacost.com.  Super good deals on lots of things.

The Skinny on Low Hazard Sunscreens

I checked prices on a bunch of the sunscreens on the "Best Sunscreens" list.  Here are a few that I found to be more reasonable prices (still more than what you're probably used to, though - but so worth it).  These are around $3-$4/ounce.  And a little typically goes a long way on these.  Keep in mind, these links are to specific types of sunscreens that these brands offer.  Jason, for example, has several sunscreens that are rated 5 (not good) but one that is a 2...so don't just get whatever of each brand...make sure it's on the list.  All Terrain,  Badger, Earth's Best for Babies, Goddess Garden, Jason 30 Sunbrellas, Loving Naturals, Caribbean Solutions (reviews of these last two said they didn't last very long - about 45 minutes).

All of these natural, "low hazard" sunscreens are going to be different than the Banana Boat or whatever you're used to (umm, can we say "7!!??!?!").  These low hazard ones can be greasier sometimes.  They sometimes give a white tinge that takes lots of rubbing in to get rid of (this is because many of them are mineral-based, which is a good thing).  You have to reapply more often than every 50 hours.  You'll get used to it.  And when you're annoyed that your kid is a grease slick, just remember you could be saving them from skin cancer or hormone disfunction or a wide array of other nasty problems later, so yay for that.

I highly recommend that you take at least a couple minutes to check out the site.  There's some really interesting information.  Check out the "Sunscreens Exposed" tab.  And definitely peruse the sunscreen list.  Click on a sunscreen on the list (you can look at a list of all sunscreens or you can narrow down).  It will show you information about the product.  Scroll down until you get to the list of ingredients, each of which has a number rating next to it as well as a list of the health concerns of that ingredient.  It's scary stuff, and really important information to know.  Because the sunscreens that are on most store shelves: Neutrogena, Banana Boat, Coppertone, Hawaiian Tropics are SEVENS for the most part, people.  So not worth it. 

I hope this helps!  Happy summering!