Receive the Suns Medicine (without the RISKS?)

First Fact// Sun PROTECTION is important. Sensible sun exposure for all shades of human is a thing.

Second Fact// Sun COSMETICS Sunscreen or cream (depending on which side of the sun you look at) is a commercial product backed by big business and chemical, pharmaceutical companies.

Third Fact// Sensible exposure to the sun is a vital part of wellbeing. Vitamin D is an essential vitamin responsible for a host of things from immunity, ageing and cell regeneration. We can only produce Vitamin D AKA  calciferol, is produced in  our cells when ultraviolet rays from sunlight strike the skin and trigger vitamin synthesis.

Lets deep dive into why not all sunscreens are created equal and some (most high street brands) contain marine life damaging, reef killing and carcinogenic compounds already banned in some countries....hold onto your sun hat, this is a vital read.

sunscreen is important and we need to protect ourselves from the sun? Erm, well... Sunscreen is big business and I reckon there is more to know and probably a chunk of "astroturfing" that happens around it.

Know the word Astroturfing, especially now:

"...the practice of publishing opinions or comments on the internet, in the media, etc. that appear to come from ordinary members of the public but actually come from a particular company or political group, as a way to make it seem that a product, policy, opinion, etc. is very popular or has a lot of public support." (Cambridge Dictionary)

Protect from the sun?

It's a good idea to not get burned, yes. Though what is sunburn? One way to think of it is a message to get out of the sun that is delivered just after you've had your personal "dose". Ideally you want to remove yourself from the sun before this happens, however during water sports or busy activity and wind..this can be harder to notice.

There's a lot more to this, though if sunscreen is blocking the message (get out of the sun) and you stay there, AND the sunscreen contains questionable ingredients which are being baked into your skin (a massive organ which is a part of you) something's not right with that scenario, right!?

A little ingredient background:

Mineral SPF formulas are gaining popularity right now because they're free of controversial chemical sunscreen active ingredients like oxybenzone and octinoxate.

Those substances are harmful to aquatic life, reefs and are showing to be endocrine disruptors (messing with your hormonal balance) possibly increasing risks of developing cancer.

Now,  most of us reading this are in the UK so we don't use those products daily but those chemicals do accumulate in the human body over time.

The Island of Hawaii is one of a growing number of destinations that have banned all chemical sunscreens - to help humans and the marine, plant and animal life around their shores.

The FDA proposed that 12 other ingredients in common sunscreens are not GRASE (Generally recognised as safe) due to insufficient data: Avobenzone, cinoxate, dioxybenzone, ensulizole, homosalate, meradimate, octinoxate, octisalate, octocrylene, oxybenzone, padimate O, and sulisobenzone.

It's a good idea to make your own informed decision before you paste that on you or your family. 

"In 2021, the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees sunscreen safety, proposed its latest update to regulations for these products. The agency reviewed 16 ingredients and reported that only two, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, are “generally recognised as safe and effective”, or GRASE, based on the available information. " 

Mineral sunscreens act as a physical barrier to deflect and shield against UVA and UVB rays where as chemical formulas absorb the rays. Back to our sunburn alarm, should we be 'absorbing' more rays than our body wants and what chemical reaction is cooking our largest organ do do this? 

Common ingredients in chemical sunscreen such as oxybenzone, octinoxate, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate and avobenzone are all absorbed into the body after use. In the USA the FDA (Food and Drug Administration) reported that these ingredients could be detected on the skin and in the blood weeks after they had last been used. Further studies have shown key ingredients were detected in breast milk, urine and blood plasma samples.