It’s that time of year: you need to choose a sunscreen. But which are effective, and which aren’t worth the money?
If you’re struggling with trying to figure out the right sunscreen for your child, you’re not alone. It’s hard to tell which sunscreen will actually protect your child from the sun while not exposing him or her to harsh chemicals, and which are simply not worth the money or, worse, may even be potentially harmful.
There’s a ton of choices at your local supermarket, but which should you choose? With Memorial Day weekend upon us, marking the unofficial start to summer, you’ll need to figure that out, and the Environmental Working Group is giving you an easy cheat sheet by releasing their 11th annual sunscreen guide.
Children are especially sensitive to sun damage, but adults also need to protect themselves from the UVB rays put out by the sun, which are associated with both skin damage and even cancer.
The full guide on sunscreens is available now on EWG’s website at EWG(dot)org.
“Since 2007, when EWG published its first Sunscreen Guide, many sun protection products sold in the U.S. are safer and federal regulators have cracked down on some of the worst phony marketing claims,” the executive summary of the report states. “But our investigation of more than 880 beach and sport sunscreens, 480 moisturizers and 120 lip products with SPF for our 11th annual guide found that serious concerns remain.
“Almost three-fourths of the products we examined offer inferior sun protection or contain worrisome ingredients like oxybenzone, a hormone disruptor, or retinyl palmitate, a form of vitamin A that may harm skin. And despite scant evidence, the government still allows most sunscreens to claim they help prevent skin cancer.”
Daniel J. Brown
Daniel J. Brown (Editor-in-Chief) is a recently retired data analyst who gets a kick out of reading and writing the news. He enjoys good music, great food, and sports, with a slant towards Southern college football, basketball and professional baseball.