Gone are the days when we slather ourselves with baby oil to bake ourselves. With more than a million new cases of nonmelanoma skin cancer already estimated for 2008, we’re learning to take our sun exposure much more seriously. Now that we’ve gotten smart about the dangers of sun exposure, sunscreen has become a daily essential.

But for all our efforts to protect ourselves, it seems that many sunscreens are having the opposite effect on us: not only are they not blocking UV rays, but they are also causing us to absorb harmful chemicals into our bloodstream through our skin.

The Skin Deep Cosmetics Safety Database, an indispensable resource for finding out exactly what ingredients personal care and beauty products contain, has published an exhaustive report on the effectiveness and safety of sunscreens.

The folks behind the Database, the Environmental Working Group, conducted an investigation of 952 name-brand sunscreens, finding that 4 out of 5 of them don’t adequately protect from the sun, or contain unsafe ingredients. Much like the cosmetics and personal care industries, the suncare industry remains alarmingly unregulated by the FDA. In fact, the report states that the FDA has not finalized comprehensive sunscreen safety standards it began drafting 30 years ago. Click here to read more

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Daily Greenz #167

Just when we’re starting to get the point that yes, we need sunscreen to avoid things like skin cancer and wrinkles, here comes the kicker: The sunscreen being advised is full of ingredients like oxybenzone, a chemical that is linked to cancer itself. Ironic? Yes. Scary? Definitely. Not only are these sunscreens potentially harmful to our bodies, but new studies are showing these chemicals may be killing entire reefs.

Still, the fact is simple: You need sunscreen. Fortunately, you don’t need to settle for one laden with suspicious-sounding chemicals. Burt’s Bees makes chemical free sunscreens with the sun-shielding power of titanium dioxide (which shields against UVB and UVA rays) and good-for-everyone ingredients like hemp seed oil and wheat grass extract. Yippee, sunscreen that’s easy on your body and any body of water you swim in!

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