News Flash: There is No Evidence that Sunscreen is Harmful – A Retort
On occasion an article will float by our desk that leads us to take pause. The old adage of, “there’s two sides to every story,” is most certainly true in the case of the following article – “How Sunscreen Could Be Causing Skin Cancer, Not The Sun.”
There’s plenty of reason to look beyond the title and dig into more facts coming from another vantage point.
Skincare Physician Dermatologist (and IMPACT Melanoma Medical Advisory Board Member), Robin Travers, stepped up to the plate to help us shed a little more light on this subject:
“Skin cancer remains the most common form of cancer in the United States, and dermatologists continue to treat patients for this disfiguring and potentially deadly form of cancer every day. It has been clearly demonstrated from many studies that regular sunscreen use and regular skin examinations remain the very best way to help lower skin cancer rates.
When used appropriately on the skin, there is no evidence that the ingredients in sunscreens are harmful. This holds true even for the class of sunscreen ingredients, like oxybenzone, about which concerns as endocrine disruptors have been raised. Some of the concerns about oxybenzone acting similarly to estrogen arise from studies in rat populations, where the animals were fed megadoses of sunscreen ingredients. This pattern of exposure is clearly different from how we humans are exposed! In a 2011 study from JAMA Dermatology, researchers demonstrated that it would take 200 years of daily sunscreen application to reach the exposures these rats had. Hormone disruption in humans using sunscreens under normal circumstances has never been shown in any well-designed study.
Retinyl palmitate is another ingredient about which alarms have been sounded, and, again, if you examine the science behind this claim, you find that it is weak. The studies that are cited once again involve animals being exposed to retinoids in very artificial circumstances that bear no relationship to how these ingredients are used in normal human activity. In fact, we dermatologists have years of experience with using these ingredients. Oral retinoids are often used to treat patients at high risk of skin cancer because they suppress cancer development! Topically applied medications (such as Retin-A or tretinoin) can also suppress the development of skin cancers.
Concerns that sunscreen may cause Vitamin D deficiency should not stop patients from applying sunscreens. According to the Institute of Medicine’s 2011 report on Vitamin D and calcium intake, most Americans and Canadians get plenty of Vitamin D from dietary sources, and blood levels among most are within the normal range. And fair-skinned individuals absorb maximal Vitamin D after just 15 minutes of sun exposure: sunscreens aren’t likely to have a great impact on that!
Bottom line: sunscreens can prevent skin cancer and protect against sun damage. If you have questions or concerns about skin cancer prevention, speak with your dermatologist to get evidence-based advice!”
The facts are the facts – from where we’re sitting, overexposure to the sun’s UV rays are detrimental to human health worldwide. Sunscreen can help, but it’s not the lone protective measure you can take. As Robin suggests, talk to your dermatologist, do some independent research, and remember that no matter the course, the underlying takeaway here is to protect the skin you’re in.
If you need guidance in finding the right resource, we’d be happy to help. Don’t hesitate to contact us today!
