Are chemical sunscreens bad for you & the environment?

With sunscreen the hot topic at the moment, I thought I would give you some clarity on the real facts. I want to explore chemical sunscreens and the effects on hormones and the coral reef. These topics are regularly in the press, and the information we often read can be very confusing. 

There is no question that UV causes skin cancer & has a detrimental effect on the skin. 

Skin cancer is caused by burning the skin or over exposure to UV. With Australia having such high rates of skin cancer, they are the biggest researchers in this field & their research shows that daily application of sunscreen reduces skin cancer by 40%-50%.

Let's talk about chemicals in sunscreens and the concern that they are causing hormonal issues.

The ingredient that you may have heard of that relates to chemical sunscreens is oxybenzone. There are no studies that show that oxybenzone is harmful when used in the low amount  that it is in a sunscreen. Oxybenzone only affects the hormones when used in very high doses. It would take a human 277 years of chemical sunscreen application daily for the dose to be anywhere near high enough to have any effect on the hormones. 

Chemical sunscreen affects the hormones 1.5 million times less than the contraceptive pill.

No case related to sunscreen increases the risk of cancer. Sunscreens have a tough regulatory framework that's fully regulated & validated by science to ensure that they are safe to use.

Are sunscreens affecting the coral reef? 

When the coral reef is under stress the algae that surrounds it comes away. The algae is the coral's source of food, so as it comes away they are left with hardly any food to survive. This is called coral bleaching and causes the coral to turn white & die.

Professor Terry Huges of marine biology who is well known for his research on coral bleaching has stated that sunscreen is number 200 down the list for concerns with the coral reef. The real reason is climate change, overfishing and pollution from sediment runoff from land based pollutants. 

Areas that suffer a lot from coral bleaching are those that have no human contact. 

For the areas that have high levels of human contact the main reason for the damage to the coral reefs is from people trampling over them amongst other things, not from sun protection.

From my research into chemicals used by reputable brands in sun protection and skincare, it is clear to me that the positives out weigh the negatives. Everything is harmful in large doses, and the small doses that they contain, would make it almost impossible to experience a negative effect. These chemicals are added in only to have a positive effect, to offer a better protection against skin cancer & sun damage.