Know what is in your sunscreen

Aah! What would I do without my sunscreen. I resent those days when I have to suddenly step out in a strong sun and I don’t find my sunscreen in the bag.

Sunscreen has become a holy-grail of self care routine. With so many benefits ranging from protection against skin cancer, sunburns and aging, it is a must have in our vanity kits. One thing I have learnt by watching vogue 73 questions(yup sometimes I watch it for my love of Joe Sabia’s voice) is this: all celebrities irrespective of their austere or simple lifestyles swear-by sunscreens. The same love and faith in sunscreen is shared by me and most of my friends and I guess most of the rest of the world.

Now that we know that sunscreen is omnipresent, let’s get to the point: our sunscreen is harming the environment while it is protecting us.

Two years back, before one of my hiking trips I realized that I was running out of sunscreen and instead of just picking it up at some supermarket, I window shopped it at REI(a store chain in the US for outdoorsy gear). I was surprised to see that the brands in REI were not the common ones I am used to seeing in drugstores(or grocery stores, general stores, supermarkets). I researched a bit more and found out that REI carries environment-friendly sunscreens, these sunscreens are “Oxybenzone” free. Most commonly available sunscreens contain Oxybenzone. What is wrong with Oxybenone? It has been studied to cause bleaching of coral reefs and stress them out; it is a toxic chemical .

Imagine the amount of oxybenzone that enters oceans directly from all the sunbathing bodies on beaches. Most of us have heard about the bleaching happening in great barrier reefs and our sunscreen is one of the many factors which is causing it. It is depressing to see how these vibrant creatures are becoming almost lifeless.

Oxybenzone has also been proven to cause harmful impact on human bodies. With all the recent frightening revelations about chemicals(parabens and formaldehydes claimed to be carcinogenic) used in cosmetics industry, this does not come as a surprise. Though unlike the other ones which are mostly carcinogenic Oxybenzone impairs hormones in our body. Some studies, like the one I have linked shows oxybenzone causes weaker estrogen. Other studies have shown it causes weaker testosterone.

Presence of such toxic elements is certainly not a good news for our environment and our bodies. This is a good time to check the back of your sunscreen and see what it contains. Hopefully it is Oxybenzone free. If not, finding a sunscreen which is Oxybenzone free is going to bless your body and the coral reefs.

I know it is hard to find the perfect sunscreen which is not greasy but there are a lot of non-toxic sunscreens to choose from. I have listed what I use in the notes section below.

 
Physical sunscreens/mineral sunscreens are a great option. These contain zinc oxide/titanium oxide to create a barrier on the skin and unlike the chemical ones these do not sink in your skin, they are suitable for most skin types. But since chemical sunscreens are more easy to find, you can buy a herbal/eco-friendly one. There are many brands like banana boat, sun-bum etc. which make innocuous chemical sunscreen.

Next time you go for a beach vacation, make sure you think about the coral reefs; buy a reef-friendly sunscreen. Talking about vacations seems blatant in this time of COVID-19 but this pause in our lives has given us an amazing opportunity to plan for a better future. So, let’s pledge to be more responsible tourists on our next vacations that we all are dreaming about.

Notes:

• Sunscreens like Nuetrogena and Lotus(widely used in India) which are advertised to look harmless, all contain Oxybenzone. 
• I use sun-bum sunscreens(Both chemical and physical one). These have worked great for me. I have also liked Skin aqua, which is a Japanese sunscreen(does not contain Oxybenzone) but since it is shipped all the way from Japan I am going to stop using it.