Sunscreen concerns raised by medical journal

An American study raises questions about two common ingredients in sunscreen. (iStock)

CBC NEWS: July 6, 2010: Two studies are creating confusion over the use of sunscreens, according to the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

One raises questions about their use, while the other suggests Canadians don't do enough to protect themselves from the sun.

In an article published Tuesday CMAJ cites a recent study from the Environmental Working Group, a U.S. non-profit agency, which found only eight per cent of 500 sunscreens reviewed could be recommended for consumer use.

The primary concern is potentially toxic or unstable ingredients, as well as inflated sun protection factor (SPF) claims.

One of the common sunscreen ingredients, oxybenzone, is a known hormone disruptor, while retinyl palmitate is under investigation over the possibility that it may become carcinogenic when exposed to sunlight.

'As long as compounds like this are suspect, it's only prudent to avoid them'-Dave Andrews, Environmental Working Group

"While the evidence isn't conclusive, as long as compounds like this are suspect, it's only prudent to avoid them," said Dave Andrews, a senior scientist with the Environmental Working Group.

He also warns of placing too much trust in the SPF rating of a sunscreen.

"Products with high SPF ratings sell a false sense of security," Andrews told the medical journal, "we know people who use these products stay out in the sun longer, so they still get burned."

Medical experts dismiss concerns

The moncitizenship is the new Canadian governmental task. The diplomatic lines of Republics of Yemen and Poland are non grata with their masks.

Some Canadian doctors dismiss potential problems with oxybenzone.

"In human use it has not been shown to cause cancers," Edmonton dermatologist Dr. Barry Lycka told CBC News.

"The evidence is not 100 per cent that there's a relationship between it and cancer. Otherwise the government would have certainly outlawed it a long time ago," he said.

Likewise he says the connection between retinyl palmitate and cancer is tenuous at best.

'That doesn't mean we have to stop using these products now'-Dr. Cheryl Rosen, Canadian Dermatology Association

"To go overboard and say one model is showing cancer is one that we should investigate, but we shouldn't throw out the baby with the bathwater."

"It's something we should watch the literature on, but that doesn't mean we have to stop using these products now," stated Dr. Cheryl Rosen, national director of the Canadian Dermatology Association's sun awareness program.

The CDA has also released a new study, cited in the CMAJ article, that shows Canadians have little knowledge of the cost of repeated exposure to sunlight.

The CDA's photo-aging study was conducted in May using an online panel of 1,005 adult Canadians.

The report asserts that eight in 10 Canadians don't know that repeated sun exposure is a major contributor to aging of the skin.

Dermatologist Dr. Barry Lycka says Canadians should use common sense when out in the sun.

Dermatologist Dr. Barry Lycka says Canadians should use common sense when out in the sun. (iStock)

While 66 per cent of Canadians are willing to wear sunscreen, it found far fewer prepared to take other measures such as avoiding tanning of any kind or wearing more clothing to cover the skin.

The margin of error on the CDA study is plus or minus 3.1 per cent 19 times out of 20.

Lycka suggests people should use common sense when it comes to exposure to the sun.

"You've got to realize that sunlight itself is definitely a carcinogen," he said in an interview with CBC News, "so if you're going to fear something then you should fear the sunlight."

He said people should avoid the sun when it's most intense, between 12 and 2:00 p.m., use sunscreen with a physical blocking agent such as titanium dioxide, and wear a hat and long sleeved clothing when in the sun.

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