F a c t o r f i c t i o n There’s been a lot of talk lately about the efficacy of commercial sunscreen products, following paleo chef Pete Evans’ advice to avoid using sun creams, as they are full of ‘poisonous chemicals’ and a review by CHOICE that found only two of six products tested lived up to their SPF claims. So what is the truth? Dermatologist Dr Portia Millar breaks it down. The ultraviolet radiation in sunlight has both positive and negative health effects, as it is the principal source of Vitamin D and is a mutagen (causes genetic mutation). The shorter UVB rays do not penetrate skin deeply; they cause sunburn and skin damage. The long UVA rays penetrate deeper layers of skin, where they produce free radicals and are the chief cause of premature aging, damaging collagen, elastin fibres, blood vessels and immunosuppression. Sun protection factor (SPF) in simple terms can be viewed as a “sunburn” protection factor. A sunscreen of SPF 20 allows only five out of every 100 photons of UVB light to reach skin. The SPF factor covers only the UVB protection but the sunscreen can still allow a significant percentage of UVA photons to reach skin. For example, using a standard Australia SPF 50 sunscreen provides you with an equivalent SPF 20 UVA level of protection. Consequently, deeper damage can be happening despite no obvious sunburn occurring. If your unprotected skin normally burns in 10 minutes, applying an SPF 30+, would allow you to stay in the sun for 300 minutes without burning. However, for this to happen, the application of sunscreen would have to be uniformly thick – something that rarely happens, especially when applying sunscreen yourself. Thus, UVA penetration can still be causing deep damage without any outward signs of burning. IF IT IS COLD AND CLOUDY, YOU DON’T NEED SUNSCREEN This is categorically untrue. Up to 40% of UV radiation reaches earth on completely cloudy or overcast days. 80% OF SUN EXPOSURE COMES AS A CHILD, SO IT IS TOO LATE TO DO ANYTHING AS AN ADULT A recent multi study showed we get less than 25% of our total sun exposure by age 18. In fact, men over 40 who are mostly outdoors get higher annual doses. NANOPARTICLES IN SUNSCREEN ARE TOXIC Nanoparticles (particles less than 100nm, mostly zinc oxide and titanium dioxide) are controversial, with health professionals disagreeing as to whether or not they penetrate underlying layers of skin. In 2013 the TGA, and in 2014 the Cancer Council, reported that nanoparticles can penetrate outer “dead” layers of skin and research to date has not found living cells are damaged in healthy intact skin. Tiny amounts of zinc penetrate but it is unclear if it was nanoparticles themselves or zinc ions from nanoparticles. Ions are not the same as nanoparticles – and zinc itself is an essential nutrient. Overall, the weight of evidence is clear. There are more risks from not using sunscreen than there are from using it, whether or not it contains nanoparticles. CONSUMER ADVOCACY GROUP CHOICE recently tested six top-selling sunscreen products on the Australian market and found that only the following two lived up to their claims: 1 2 3 3 CANCER COUNCIL CLASSIC ZINC NIVEA SUN KIDS CARING ROLL ON A COMMERCIAL SUNSCREEN CONTAINS: Organic molecules that absorb UV Inorganic pigments that reflect, scatter and absorb UV pindaramagazine.com.au Pindara Magazine 67
Pindara Private Hospital Magazine - Issue Eight
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