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Is Your Sunscreen Doing More Harm Than Good?
Vitamin D, often referred to as “the sunshine vitamin,” is different from other vitamins in that it influences your entire body.
And, while scientists refer to vitamin D as a vitamin, it is actually a steroid hormone obtained from sun exposure, food sources and supplementation. Vitamin D receptors have been found in almost every type of human cell, from your brain to your bones.
Unfortunately, dermatologists and the media do the public a great disservice by recommending avoiding the sun to decrease skin cancers.1,2
This is because these “experts” fail to realize that vitamin D deficiency not only raises your risk of skin cancer3 but many of the most common cancers as well, which claim far more lives than the deadliest skin cancer, melanoma.
Breast4 and prostate5,6 cancers are just two examples where low vitamin D renders you more vulnerable to more aggressive forms of the disease. Low vitamin D also raises your risk for heart disease, diabetes, osteoporosis and other chronic diseases.
The scientific evidence, now running in excess of 34,000 studies, details the many benefits of UV exposure, both for vitamin D production and other benefits that are completely unrelated to vitamin D.
The most important thing you can do to prevent skin cancer is to spend a sufficient amount of time in the sun as frequently as possible, ideally close to daily to maintain an optimal vitamin D level.
A primary risk factor for skin cancer is intermittent overexposure, not sensible exposure. Appropriate sun exposure means, first and foremost, avoiding sunburn. As long as you avoid sunburn you are getting the benefits of sun exposure.
Sunscreen Chemical Is Lethal to Horseshoe Crabs
Avoid shielding yourself from the sun’s rays by slathering on chemical sunscreens, many of which have been linked to an increased risk of skin cancer, as noted by clinical laboratory scientist Elizabeth Plourde, Ph.D.,7 in the video above. Sunscreens have also been implicated in the destruction of corals and other sea life.
A recent symposium on emerging environmental contaminants highlighted the environmental dangers associated with widespread sunscreen use. According to University of Delaware marine biologist Danielle Dixson, the chemical oxybenzone in sunscreens is lethal to horseshoe crab eggs.
In Delaware, beach season coincides with the spawning season of horseshoe crabs, and since they lay their eggs in the sand in shallow water, they’re particularly vulnerable to chemical contaminants introduced by beachgoers.
Researchers estimate sunscreen-wearing beachgoers introduce as much as 6,000 metric tons of sunscreen into the world’s oceans each year. As reported by Cape Gazette:8
“‘Sunscreen exposure strongly influences the development, growth and survivorship of the horseshoe crab egg and larvae,’ [Dixon] concluded …
The chemical found in Hawaiian Tropic used in Dixson’s study is oxybenzone, which has been found to alter the DNA of coral, increase susceptibility to coral bleaching and disrupt the endocrine systems of marine animals.
Research has found the chemical impacts aquatic life at a concentration of 62 parts per trillion — the equivalent of one drop of water in about six Olympic-size pools, Dixson said.”