Is sunscreen more dangerous than sun damage?

Blood is thicker than water (because you have sunscreen).

We trust sunscreen to keep us safe for decades. But could that turn us? Titles warning everyone against the fact that "sunscreen gets into your blood stream" have appeared on the Internet just in time for the beach season. So should we panic? Risk of UV instead of SPF damage? Cancel our beach vacation entirely? We dug a little to find out.

Some of the most disturbing problems of the summer have come to us through a recently published study warning us all that certain chemicals in sunscreens enter our bloodstream shortly after putting it on. Here is the TLDR of the study: the scientists tested four different commercial solar screens (in the form of spray, lotion and cream) from study participants and discovered that four chemicals – avobenzone, Oxybenzone, octocrylene and ecamsule – were entering their bloodstream at levels The FDA recommends using it in one day of use.

"Absorbed", "blood" and "chemicals" are words that you prefer not to see together. But that does not mean that you should lift your arms in the air and accept your crisp destiny. According to the study's own conclusion, these results do not mean that individuals should stop using sunscreen. For now, the only undeniable advantage of this study is that the government must now conduct its own investigation into the safety of these chemicals. We have checked with the American Academy of Dermatology and, up to now, the "allergic reaction" is one of the only known side effects of these chemicals in the current state of the art. research.

You should also know that participants used the maximum dose and covered 75% of their body with a sunscreen four times a day, which represents a large amount of sunscreen even for the most frequent swimmers. It remains to be seen whether this finding will definitely affect the way it is recommended to use sunscreen. So, for the moment, at a purely academic level, there is more reason to put sunscreen than to avoid it.

"The sun is the real enemy here," Scott Faber, vice-president of government affairs for the environment working group, told CNN. "This study is the means used by the FDA to show sunscreen manufacturers that they need to do studies to determine if the absorption of chemicals poses health risks."

This is not the first time that sunscreen and the effects of certain chemicals have recently made headlines. Hawaii, Key West, the Caribbean island of Bonaire and the Pacific archipelago, Palau, have recently decided to ban some sunscreens due to damage to coral reefs. The problem relates more particularly to sunscreens, including two: octinoxate and oxybenzone. Both have been determined to cause damage to coral reefs, the latter being one of the chemicals.

If you prefer to keep in mind until more conclusive studies are done, your best choice will be to opt for a sunscreen that does not use octinoxate or oxybenzone, such as Muns Kuleana Reef Safe Sunscreen or Thinksport's Safe Sunscreen.