Concerns About Sunscreen

When it comes to choices in sunscreen, don't "cut off your nose to spite your face."

Functional Medicine concerns are:

• Ill-advised product directions
• Applying active ingredients to body parts they are not meant for
• Ingredients that could cause other health issues:
  • Hormone disruption
  • Inflammation
  • Allergic reactions

Know Your Active Ingredients

Ingredients in many sunscreens are a concern because they can have varying levels of toxicity.

In Functional Medicine, we are particularly concerned with disruptions to:

• Hormones
• Reproductive system
• Thyroid

Two ingredients are prime culprits for these systems: Oxybenzone & Octinoxate.

We like the active ingredients avobenzone and zinc oxide best as studies have not identified issues with these ingredients (unless they are turned into nano-particles).

Why You Should Avoid Products over 50 SPF

You might come to regard High SPF as a red flag to alert you that you may be over-dosing on chemicals. Products that claim to have a high SPF value (more than 50) dupe consumers into over-exposing themselves to both the sun and to exposing themselves to more potential toxins than are necessary. Sunscreens with SPF 60 or more often layer in multiple potent ingredients in order to make bolder claims. Instead of being more effective, they mislead consumers into applying less frequently or taking other precautions against skin damage. Studies show that many of these products are only a trace more effective than SPF 50 products but convince consumers to apply more chemicals than they need.

Keep Sunscreen on Skin Only

Creams, not Sprays

Choose the good old fashioned, rub-it-on method, so you know where your sunscreen is.

Spray sunscreens not only leave us looking like striped lobsters most of the time, but also have sunscreen particles that are inhaled and have absolutely no business in our lungs. Functional Medicine doctors are very concerned about these ingredients ending up going down our throats to the highly sensitive respiratory system.

Avoid Nano-particles

It is possible that ingredients of sunscreens could pass through skin into the bloodstream in some cases.

Many of the mineral based sunscreens are now more transparent than they used to be because manufacturers reduce the active ingredients' scale to nano-particles.

There is a controversial debate going on in the medical community about whether these nano-particles are able to transfer to the blood stream. More research is needed, so play it safe by opting for non-nano-particulate brands.

Get Checked

Keep track of marks that appear on your skin and have your skin checked once a year by your primary care physician or a dermatologist.

What Bad Spots Look Like

Keep an eye out for marks that have:

• Irregular, lumpy, not smooth edges
• Multiple different colors, or
• That grow noticeably, more quickly than is normal for you

Get any spot that looks suspicious checked out right away by your primary care physician or a dermatologist.

Want to Learn More?

Our favorite resource for product analysis, a roundup of research results, and "best of" recommendation lists can be found at the Environmental Working Group.