EWG Sunscreen List Misses the Mark

Last week the Environmental Working Group (EWG) came out with their 2011 Sunscreen report.  This report is much anticipated every year as people actively search for safe sunscreens for their families and brands want to say they are EWG approved.

I was really disappointed in the report this year as I find it to be very misleading.  According to the EWG "Sunscreen ratings differ from other Skin Deep ratings in that sun protection accounts for 2/3rds of the score, and ingredient hazards for 1/3. This is because of the known harmful effects of UV."  What this means is that products that have high sun protection, but have lots of synthetic chemicals such as hormone disruptors, parabens, and carcinogens or genetically modified ingredients and still make the list of recommended products.  In my opinion, this ratio gives too little weight to the ingredients and therefore most of the list is made up of products with ingredients I don't consider to be safe and I would never put on my child.  

There are only a small handful that are truly safe.  To find a safe sunscreen you can't just pick one off the list like you'd think.  You still have to look at the ingredients list for each individual product and hope you are educated about each of the ingredients (and if you were, would you really need their list?).

Here is an example of a "Top Rated" sunscreen:

Alba Botanica Sun: Mineral Sunscreen Fragrance Free, SPF 30 - Sounds good, right?  Unfortunately it contains dimethicone (A silicone deriviative - coats the skin trapping anything beneath it, including toxins and prevents the skin from breathing. It doesn't biodegrade so it NEVER goes away, negatively impacting the environment.) and phenoxyethanol (a cheap synthetic from China which is dangerous to the brain an nervous system, is a suspected carcinogen, and respiratory irritant and a suspected xenoesrogen. It can cause vomiting and contact dermatitis. It's often used by companies who want to make a "Paraben-Free" or "Phthalate-Free" claim.)

I appreciate the efforts EWG is attempting to make, but they've really missed the mark on this one.  They let in so many unsafe ingredients it essentially makes the list meaningless.  So, you get to protect your family from the sun, but not from dangerous chemicals. It is my feeling (and I know I'm not alone) that the chemicals should get at least equal consideration to the UV protection. Because what's the point of protecting yourself from skin cancer if you are trading it for increased risk of another type of cancer?

And remember, you don't really need anything above an SPF 30 as it blocks 98% of UV rays.  Higher SPFs don't mean you can spend more time in the sun.  It usually just means you are getting more chemicals.