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Saturday, June 12, 2010

Sunscreen Causes Cancer?

So you know that I have been going crazy with the sunscreen. I slather it all over my face and body before leaving the house nowadays. Today, I found some interesting information.

Oxybenzone belongs to the family of benzophenones that is commonly used in sunscreen. It blocks out UV light that causes sunburns and damages. Ideally, it would do its job and then get washed off in the evening. A study by the CDC shows that this may not be the case and that the chemical may actually get absorbed into our system. In lab setting and in high concentration, oxybenzone has been shown to cause damages to the cells. In everyday life? Nothing that anyone has been able to prove as of yet.

My Neutrogena Ultra Sheer contains 6% oxybenzone. Am I going to continue using it? Probably. Skin cancer and damage is a more imminent danger. Oxybenzone, if harmful at all, may never affect me in my lifetime. People who look for the alternative sunscreens still get stuck with titanium dioxide or something of the sort which gets absorbed into the skin anyway.

It is a good thing I am not a huge fan of the sun.