Hi There!

Summer is here, and while hopefully we're all taking time to enjoy it, I want to remind you to make sure you're effectively protecting yourself and your loved ones from the sun, so here's a few tips:

1) Check the expiration on your sunscreen. Many people don't realize that sunscreens lose their effectiveness over time. Check the date and toss it if it's bad!

2) Make sure you apply it as its suggested!

3) BE AWARE WHAT'S IN YOUR SUNSCREEN! READ THE LABELS! DO YOUR HOMEWORK!

There has been a huge amount of media coverage surrounding a report last week from the Environmental Working Group (www.ewg.org) where they tested around 1,000 sunscreens. The results are pretty surprising! The companies that have the big marketing budgets tended to have the worst ratings!

Oh, by the way, we had the (tied for) 5th best! (Only shameless plug of the blog!)

Have a great summer!

Hi,

It's that time of the year again! Summer's just around the corner, and already we're seeing a huge upsurge in interest from concerned customers who are looking for clean sunscreen alternatives. So, what is a "clean" sunscreen?

A clean sunscreen is one who's formula is free of chemical UV absorbers, free from titanium dioxide (not an essential mineral), and synthetic preservatives or parabens. Also, find out what sort of environmental footprint your sunscreen leaves once it's washed off. Do your homework and use the sunscreen you feel most comfortable with.

Try typing "chemical sunscreens" in your search engine, and you'll find plenty to read about! Feel free to ask us any questions you may have, because not only are there dramatic differences product to product, but there now are also very viable choices to consider if you'd like an effective, clean sunscreen for you and your family!

On my previous blog, I discussed the issues of chemical vs organic sunscreens. As we start to draw closer to the summer,I wanted to continue to enlighten you as to some very interesting findings. Today, let's look at the environmental impact of chemical sunscreens on sensitive marine environments. Take a look at the following, it's from an article that was just posted 1/29/08 on National Geographic News, entitled "SWIMMERS SUNSCREEN KILLING OFF CORAL." This is quite compelling, in my opinion.

Ker Than
for National Geographic News
January 29, 2008

The sunscreen that you dutifully slather on before a swim on the beach may be protecting your body—but a new study finds that the chemicals are also killing coral reefs worldwide. Four commonly found sunscreen ingredients can awaken dormant viruses in the symbiotic algae called zooxanthellae that live inside reef-building coral species.

The chemicals cause the viruses to replicate until their algae hosts explode, spilling viruses into the surrounding seawater, where they can infect neighboring coral communities. Zooxanthellae provide coral with food energy through photosynthesis and contribute to the organisms' vibrant color.

Without them, the coral "bleaches"—turns white—and dies. "The algae that live in the coral tissue and feed these animals explode or are just released by the tissue, thus leaving naked the skeleton of the coral," said study leader Roberto Danovaro of the Polytechnic University of Marche in Italy.

The researchers estimate that 4,000 to 6,000 metric tons of sunscreen wash off swimmers annually in oceans worldwide, and that up to 10 percent of coral reefs are threatened by sunscreen-induced bleaching.

The study appeared online in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives.

Activated Viruses

Danovaro and his team studied the effects of sunscreen exposure on coral samples from reefs in the Pacific, Atlantic, and Indian Oceans.
Even low levels of sunscreen, at or below the typical amount used by swimmers, could activate the algae viruses and completely bleach coral in just four days, the results showed.

Seawater surrounding coral exposed to sunscreen contained up to 15 times more viruses than unexposed samples. Several brands of popular sunscreens were tested and all had four ingredients in common: paraben, cinnamate, benzophenone, and a camphor derivative.

Dangerous Dose

Robert van Woesik, a coral expert at the Florida Institute of Technology, was not involved in the research. He questions whether conditions in the study accurately reflect those found in nature. For example, the coral samples were exposed to sunscreen while in plastic bags to avoid contaminating the reefs. But van Woesik worries this prevented dilution of the chemicals through natural water circulation.
"Under normal situations on a coral reef, corals would not be subjected to these high concentrations because of rapid dilution," van Woesik said.

But according to study author Danovaro, the effect is not dose dependent—so coral's exposure to a very small dose of sunscreen is just as dangerous as a high exposure. "It is more like on-off," he said. "Once the viral epidemic is started, it is not a problem of toxicity."

Alarming Trend

Rebecca Vega Thurber, a marine virus and coral researcher at San Diego State University in California, said the new results are further evidence of an alarming trend. "Other [human-induced] factors such as coastal pollution, overfishing, and sedimentation all contribute to coral reef habitat degradation, and this work continues in that vein," said Vega Thurber, who was also not involved in the
research.

(Related news: "Coral Reefs Vanishing Faster Than Rain Forests" [August 7, 2007].)
"But before we ban sunscreens, we must first determine if local ambient concentrations of sunscreens are positively correlated with coral bleaching events."

Danovaro says banning sunscreen won't be necessary, and points out two simple things swimmers can do to reduce their impact on coral: Use sunscreens with physical filters, which reflect instead of absorb ultraviolet radiation; and use
eco-friendly chemical sunscreens.

(Read about other ways you can protect the oceans.)

Australian researchers are also working to develop a sunscreen based on a natural ultraviolet-blocking compound found in coral.

Hello,

In my inaugural post to my blog, it is my intention to help explain the importance and the differences in sunscreens and sun protection. I realize that to many, a sunscreen just might be a typical "sunscreen,' meaning that aren't they really all the same? That's certainly what I thought until I was introduced to a completely organic sunscreen that was invented in Australia, Soleo Organics sunscreen. The Aussies have more incidences of skin cancer per capita than anywhere else in the world, so it makes sense that the latest in sunscreen technology and research would eminate from their as well.

What I found in doing my own homework was pretty astonishing, to say the least! If you don't believe me, just type "chemical sunscreens" in Google (don't you just love Google?) and do your own homework.

So, I'd just like to share a few of my thoughts with you over the next few weeks. Ready? Here goes!

Although our skin is the largest organ in the body, it’s often the one that we neglect the most. You wouldn’t sit down to a meal of titanium, aluminum, sulfates or urea, so why put them on your skin? Scientific research shows that a considerable amount of what you apply to your skin is absorbed into your blood stream to some degree. The body finds it hard to expel many of these foreign ingredients, so they accumulate and can potentially cause a wide variety of health problems. Yet, these are some of the most common types of ingredients found in many of the sunscreens sold in this country annually.

In addition to this chemical sensitivity is a growing problem in America, with many people being unable to use common skin care products because they suffer symptoms such as itching, burning, redness and/ or swelling of the skin, as well as eczema and acne breakouts. Sunscreen poses a particular concern because when certain sunscreen chemicals are exposed to heat, reactions occur between the skin and the chemicals. Most chemicals in sunscreens act to absorb
UV rays, which cause particles to increase in energy levels. When particles drop back to their former lower energy level, energy is remitted. It is thought that this process causes skin damage as the released energy enters the epidermis.

Australian Toxicologist Dr Peter Dingle says “many of the chemicals in sunscreens have been found to cause photo toxic, photo allergic or photogenotoxic (DNA altering) effects and some sunscreen chemicals may increase the risk of developing skin cancer”. Dr Dingle’s comments relate to independent research in America, UK, Australia, Norway, Switzerland, Germany and Japan, which has raised concerns about some synthetic chemicals commonly used in sunscreens, finding them to be potentially toxic and damaging to the skin.

Sunscreen actives that have been under examination include titanium dioxide, Octinoxate (octyl-methoxycinnamate or ‘OMC’) 4-Methyl-benzylidene (4-MBC), PABA, padimate-O (Octyldimethyl PABA) and benzophenone-3 (oxybenzone). Titanium dioxide and / or Octinoxate are found in up to 90% of sunscreens around the world.

International medical research articles that have shown many synthetic chemicals used in
common sunscreens have the potential to:
• be carcinogenic
• produce toxic free radicals and cause DNA and skin tissue damage
• mimic the actions of the hormone estrogen
• cause the deactivation of natural antioxidants
• cause contact dermatitis and photo-allergic dermatitis

In addition to the chemical UV-absorbers, many synthetic preservatives used in sunscreens can also pose similar problems. International research has found some synthetic preservatives to; be carcinogenic, or become carcinogenic when they react with other ingredients, disrupt hormone activity, cause the release of formaldehydes and / or react with other ingredients to form toxic Nitrosamines (both of which are highly carcinogenic) and to cause contact dermatitis.

So, as I draw to the end of my first post, what's my point? My point is simply be aware of what you put on your's or your family's skin, there can be significant issues. Do your homework, and share information. That's one of the greatest benefits of the web and blogging! Next time, I'll talk about about what potential damage chemical sunscreens can do to fragile marine environments!