Is Your Sunscreen Doing The Job?

Ecanadanow.com
Published June 19, 2007

Toronto (eCanadaNow) - Do you think you're safe in the sun if you wearing sunscreen? A new study shows that a lot of the sunscreen products on the market do not protect from damaging run exposure. The study found that 80 percent American made sunscreens with a high SPF provide inadequate protection. Jane Houlihan of the Environmental Working Group said they analyzed 800 products. “When we put all of the factors that we considered together, what would make a safe an effective sunscreen found that about one of every six products on the market looked like it would both work, protect you from the sun, and would be low in ingredients that you would be concerned about,” Houlihan said. “FDA has not set comprehensive sun screen safety standards in the U.S. They've been drafting these standards for 30 years. They are not mandatory yet and what we find instead, is that other countries now have better more effective products than we have in the U.S,” said Houlihan. “I think it is important that people be aware there isn't a lot of regulation out there. We really do need a better way of judging how products compare against one another,” said Dr. Michael Eidelman of St. Vincent's Medical Center. “We do see a tremendous amount of sun damage and skin cancers in the office even with all of the attention on skin we're still seeing high rates of skin cancer in our young population," Eidelman added. “There's nothing that's perfect, there's no single ingredient that can do it all, so it's a big balancing act." Sunscreens should block both UVB and UVA rays. And look for products that have zinc and titanium, they were found to be the most effective ingredients that don't get absorbed into the skin. The study also found that many products actually contain ingredients that break down in the sun - some in a matter of minutes. Researchers also warned that sunscreens never offer "all day" protection and should be applied frequently and adequately. The study was limited to U.S. sunscreens. Other products from Canada and Europe which have proven to be more effective, were not included in the study.