Waiting Room
Sunscreens
A Holistic View
by Julie Chaplin CHHP
How Safe is Sunscreen?
It’s that time of year again—the season for soaking up the sun. But how safe is the sun? And how safe is sunscreen?
What is Sunscreen?
Sunscreen is made up of a long list of hard-to-pronounce chemicals that block ultraviolet (UV) rays, particularly UVB radiation (shorter wavelengths that cause sunburn).
Each sunscreen has a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) which is the product’s ability to block UVB radiation. A sunscreen with SPF 15 will protect your skin 15 times longer than if you weren’t wearing any protection at all. SPF 15 will block 95 percent of UVB rays. But SPF 30 does not work twice as well; it provides an additional three percent protection.
Most dermatologists promote reapplication every 2 hours, as well as after perspiring and swimming. Sunscreen does protect against sunburn; however, there is some debate over its skin-cancer prevention.
The Controversy
Dr. Randall Neustaedter (OMD and Homeopath), Dr. Joseph Mercola, and many other holistic doctors believe that chemicals in sunscreen are toxic. These chemicals are absorbed through the skin and spread throughout the body, creating toxicity that can cause cancer. There is also evidence that some UV screens have hormone-like effects.
Jane Shepherd, author of Super Healthy Kids: Strengthening your Child’s Resistance to Disease, agrees and reports that “common sunscreen ingredients are suspected or known carcinogens and/or hormone disrupters, and [have] mutagenic and free-radical generating properties.” As well, some sunscreen chemicals “have strong estrogenic actions that may interfere with normal sexual development and cause reproductive problems.”
The Sunshine Vitamin
Sunscreen decreases the production of Vitamin D in the skin by more than 95 percent. Especially because we live in the north, adequate Vitamin D is important. Approximately 60 percent of people are deficient in Vitamin D, with the majority of those working indoors all day. Sun exposure is essential in preventing many chronic diseases such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, cancer and autoimmune disease. Vitamin D also is used in treating SAD (seasonal affective disorder), and is required for calcium absorption.
Tips to be Sun-Safe
Too much sun causes sunburn and skin damage.
• Get 15-30 minutes daily of sun exposure without sunscreen, exposing at least 20% of body surface (face and hands constitutes 5%). If not possible during work-days, spend several hours outside on days off.
• Avoid sun between 11 am-3 pm, or else seek shade, wear a wide brimmed hat, long-sleeved shirt, pants and sunglasses.
• Protect yourself on overcast days as well: UV radiation penetrates through clouds.
• Stay hydrated.
•Use natural sunscreens.
Natural Sunscreens
• Titanium dioxide and Zinc oxide: non-toxic and less absorbable
• Lavera.com: organic, waterproof and safe for babies and young children
• Child Safe Sunscreen: www.mountainbaby.com
• UV Natural Sunscreen: www.radiantskinclinic.com
• California Baby Kids Sunscreen
• Colorescience.com
Summertime gives us energy in the form of heat from the sun. This energy nourishes and energizes us, so get outside and soak up the healing energy—just be safe, and sun-smart.
A physician’s perspective
by Tracy Morton MD
Sunscreens: risks vs benefits
Most of us have heard that the sun ages the skin and causes skin cancer. Sunlight consists of the light that we can see, and higher-energy radiation that we cannot, including ultraviolet (or UV) radiation. UV radiation can damage the DNA in skin cells, leading to mutations which, if not repaired, lead to pre-cancerous changes and, ultimately, to cancer.
Even on rainy Haida Gwaii, not a week goes by where we don’t see a case of skin cancer or pre-cancerous skin conditions. Fortunately, most of these are relatively benign basal- and squamous-cell cancers, and not the deadly melanoma. Melanoma is much less common, but it can be deadly, spreading early and being resistant to treatment with chemotherapy or radiation. About one in five people with melanoma die of the disease. And it’s a growing problem: in 2000, there were 465 cases of melanoma in BC; in 2007 it was up to 979. At highest risk are those with fair skin, red hair and a history of easy sun-burning.
It has been clearly shown that minimizing sun exposure significantly reduces the risk of skin cancer. Hats, shirts, and staying in the shade are highly effective and obviously safe.
But what about sunscreen?
All available sunscreens contain one or more of 16 different active ingredients that protect the skin from UV radiation. Each has been evaluated in both human and animal studies. There are two basic types: substances which absorb UV rays, and blockers which physically prevent them from reaching the skin.
The blockers are either titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, and they work in the same way as wearing clothing. To be really effective, a screen needs to block two types of UV radiation: UVA and UVB. Although UVB is more damaging, UVA also causes cancer to a lesser degree.
There have been concerns raised about chemical sunscreens, most of which are absorbed to a small extent across the skin (anywhere from 0.0001 to four percent of the amount applied, depending on the substance). Some studies have shown weak estrogen-like effects with these chemicals, mostly in animals when exposed in high doses. The effect on humans, if present, is considered small and safe. The physical blocking agents (titanium and zinc) absorb all types of radiation and are not absorbed through the skin; there are no real risks to their use. If you have concerns about sunscreen safety, blockers are the preferred choice.
Seem clear? Well, maybe not.
There may be a downside to limiting sun, and specifically, UV exposure. It has long been known that UVB converts cholesterol found in skin cells to vitamin D, an essential vitamin with a number of positive effects in the body.
In the fall of 2006, a study was published looking at cancer rates in women taking 1000 units of vitamin D per day in supplements compared to those who did not. There was an impressive reduction in breast and colon cancer in the supplementing group. Last year, on the basis of this and other studies, the Canadian Cancer Society recommended that “adults living in Canada should consider taking Vitamin D supplementation of 1,000 international units (IU) a day during the fall and winter.”
Vitamin D supplementation also lowers the risk of the development of at least two autoimmune diseases: multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis. Several recent studies have shown that taking a vitamin D reduces the risk of developing these conditions by up to 40 percent. People living in higher latitudes, like Canada, have been known for decades to be at higher risk of immune system diseases, for reasons that are unclear. Perhaps it’s because with less sun exposure we make less vitamin D, and it is this relative deficiency that contributes to the immune disorder.
So how does one balance the known risks of sun exposure with the risks of lowering one’s vitamin D levels? The solution may be to use the above measures to protect against the sun while at the same time supplementing daily with vitamin D.
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