Day two of our insight to household toxins, now if any of you are like myself this will take you back a bit. Now remember that because we see it on TV or a magazine it must be true.
I was shocked to find out that sunscreen, yup that's right, sunscreen is the number two household toxin. Well more so OXYBENZONE.
Oxybenzone is an organic compound that forms colourless crystals that are readily soluble in most organic compounds. The compound is also found in cosmetics and moisturizers as well.
A report from an environmental group made claim that not only were 4 out of 5 inadequate for sun protection but that they posed health risk. With these accusations, it sparked an all new study.
More tests have to be performed to find anything concrete, however what they did find with sunscreen in particular re-application is a must. One application isn't enough, this will sound a little counter productive however, when ultraviolet light reaches sunscreen that has penetrated the skin it releases free radicals which may in turn result in skin damage and possible skin cancer. Okay I know what your thinking, I said the same thing. The key is to keep the application fresh to prevent any of the UVA rays from penetrating the skin.
An SPF of 15 will give you about 150 minutes, so applying every two and half hours should suffice.
I can't stress this enough, there is no solid proof on my next statement. There haven't been any human studies to prove this, however is has been seen in some animal studies that oxybenzone has shown some evidence that it effects the endocrine system, affecting hormonal functioning and may even cause low birth weight babies.
It's THOUGHT to mimic the hormone estrogen.
Maybe there's a conspiracy theory in the making. I'm sure we could get creative, or it's just another phrase a man could use....instead oh is it that time of the month again.....they could say "did you put sunscreen on again?" or I think that's going to be my next excuse for mood swings.
Here's what I can tell you, it's been around an awfully long time. To say that it does more harm than good I think would be misleading and cause unnecessary panic, just remember to put it on and often and remember your antioxidants.