(Here is a guest post about the toxic effects of sunscreen from our friends at Chicago Healers. Enjoy the sun safely!)
As the summer heats up, sunscreen is needed more and more to protect skin from the scorching sun. What many people do not know is that most sunscreens contain chemicals that have strong estrogenic effects. These chemicals are also known as “gender-bending” chemicals. The chemicals act like the female hormone estrogen and can be associated with serious medical problems like smaller penises in boys, loss of libido or breast development in men, early puberty in girls and uterine fibroid tumors. ChicagoHealers.com Practitioner Dr. Martha Howard, M.D. provides the following information on what American’s need to know about sunscreen ingredients:
Avoid Oxybenzone: A 2008 study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) showed that 97% of Americans are contaminated with a widely-used sunscreen ingredient called oxybenzone, which is associated with hormone disruption as well as free-radical damage to cells inside the body and allergies. A Mt. Sinai School of Medicine study showed that oxybenzone is also associated with low birth weight in baby girls whose mothers are exposed during pregnancy.
What to avoid: Here are the names of some of the most commonly used gender-bending chemicals to look for on labels:
- Benzophenones (dixoybenzone, oxybenzone)
- PABA and PABA esters (ethyl dihydroxy propyl PAB, glyceryl PABA, p-aminobenzoic acid, padimate-O or octyl dimethyl PABA)
- Cinnamates (cinoxate, ethylhexyl p-methoxycinnamate, octocrylene, octyl methoxycinnamate)
- Salicylates (ethylhexyl salicylate, homosalate, octyl salicylate)
- Digalloyl trioleate
- Menthyl anthranilate
- Avobenzone [butyl-methyoxydibenzoylmethane; Parsol 1789] (allowed in EU)
- Badger SPF 30 + unscented sunscreen.
- Mychelle Sun Shield
- California Baby Fragrance Free Sun block for Kids
- Aubrey Organics Natural Sun
