As I was going through our medicine cabinet, I realized we needed to replace our sunscreens. Why? Well, take a look at this list of commonly found ingredients in sunscreens.
* Benzophenone (oxybenzone) – present in most sunscreens; easily absorbed through the skin; causes irritations and allergies; and is a hormone disrupter. Also used in many other personal care products.
* Padimate-O – found to cause DNA damage which can lead to cancer.
* Avobenzone – easily absorbed through the skin; degrades and becomes ineffective within one hour.
* Diethanolamine (DEA) - may lead to cancer causing compounds if the sunscreen contains nitrites; is often not disclosed on sunscreen labels.
Most sunscreens also contain parabens (hormone disrupters) and synthetic fragrances (contain up to 4,000 different chemicals, and can cause allergies and asthma). Note that, children’s developing organs are more vulnerable to damage from chemical exposures and more sensitive to low levels of hormonally active compounds.
