Hello and welcome to all our new subscribers since the last issue. We've been experiencing an unusually cold summer so far here in Northern California, with temperatures along the coast being more consistent with what we usually see in the late fall. Even inland areas, which typically run 15 to 20 degrees warmer during the daytime are seeing cooler temps. With this kind of weather one is rarely inclined to worry about never mind think about sun safety and protection!

But at this time of year, when the sun is out, it burns hotter than most other times of the year. And when the sun is partly hidden by clouds, your risk of UV exposure is even greater. Suffice it to say that now is not the best time to ignore the possible dangers of over exposure to the sun. On the other hand, when it comes to the market for sun care products there's not a lot of good news to report ... I recently scanned the industry trade rags and did some searching on the Internet (as I do every year) in an attempt to find out what's new in the market for sunscreens. And every year I marvel at how some things never seem to change! In fact they appear to be getting worse!

In spite of growing evidence that sunscreens don't adequately protect against skin cancer, companies are still producing essentially the same products, and packaging and marketing them in increasingly deceptive ways. While SPF ratings are notoriously unreliable, they're all we've got at the moment, so people continue to mistakenly believe that using higher SPFs buys them a lot more time in the sun without risk. This encourages sun care companies to keep coming out with higher and higher SPF-rated products. This year we hit a new high (or new low depending on how you look at it) with SPF 100!

This week's article takes a look at some of the potential risks associated with the current FDA-approved sunscreen ingredients and the general state of the industry, because you can never be too safe even when you think you are.

Yours in health and prosperity,

Donya

What's a Mother to Do? Why It's Harder Than Ever To Find Safe, Natural Sunscreens

About a year ago, I stumbled across a blog post titled Why It's Harder Than Ever To Find Safe, Natural Sunscreens. This post was a mother's lament about the decision of several leading natural personal care companies including Dr. Hauschka and Weleda, to opt out of the sun care product market altogether.

Apparently the European Union's new, stricter regulations around UV protection in sun care products would have forced them to re-formulate their products using synthetic sunscreen filters. These companies, like mine, are committed to making safe, healthy, non-toxic, plant-based products so they are just saying 'No Thanks' to government regulations based on fear-mongering, inconclusive studies, and incomplete science.

But this woman's blog post revealed the true bind conscientious consumers are in. On the one hand you want to make choices that protect you and your loved ones from danger and harm, on the other hand your choices are limited by government regulations that are often strongly influenced, if not dictated, by large corporate interests, short-sightedness, complicity from the medical (and in this case, dermatology) community, or a simple lack of funds for more meaningful research and testing.

Whereas it was once believed that UVB rays (the ones that cause sunburn) were directly linked to skin cancer, it is now believed that UVA rays are the real cause of both skin cancer and pre-mature aging of the skin. So UVA filtration (or protection) is the latest driving factor behind global sunscreen product development. Unfortunately, at the moment there are only a few chemical sunscreens that can protect you from UVA, and as it turns out, here in the U.S. we have even fewer options than in Europe or Japan, due to the FDA's continuing failure to finalize its official position on this sensitive but critical matter.

It also turns out that some of the FDA-approved sunscreen chemicals can lead to other cancers because of the free radicals they generate when they absorb and react with the very rays they are designed to protect you from! Free radicals are unstable molecules that cause cellular damage by stealing electrons from healthy cells --a process called oxidation. The DNA mutations caused by this damage are usually a pre-requisite for the rapid development of any type of cancer.

According to The Chemical Sunscreen Health Disaster web site, sunscreens made from chemicals are potentially harmful to humans in one of two ways:

1) Their chemical action leads to the proliferation of cancer-causing free radicals and/or

2) Their estrogenic effects make them endocrine disruptors which can cause serious problems in sexual development and adult sexual function, and can further increase risks for certain types of cancer other than melanoma.

This is a list of FDA-approved sunscreen ingredients as of August 2010:

Avobenzone (also known as Parsol 1789)
Cinoxate
Dioxybenzone
Homosalate
Menthyl anthranilate
Mexoryl
Octinoxate (formerly Octyl Methoxycinnamate)
Octocrylene
Octyl Salicylate
Oxybenzone
Padimate O
Phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid
Sulisobenzone
Titanium Dioxide
Trolamine salicylate
Zinc Oxide

Of this list, only two ingredients --Titanium Dioxide and Zinc Oxide-- are naturally occurring ingredients. Both are very effective physical UVA and UVB sun blocks because they deflect UV rays away from the skin. All the other ingredients are chemical sunscreens that work by absorbing UVB radiation (the so-called "burning rays") and then dispersing the energy through chemical reactions --some of which can generate those dreaded "free radicals" that often lead to cancer.

The most commonly used of these ingredients are Avobenzone, Octinoxate (formerly Octyl Methoxycinnamate), Octocrylene, Oxybenzone, and Padimate O.

Avobenzone is an oil soluble chemical agent capable of absorbing light throughout the entire UVA spectrum. It is one of the very few comprehensive chemical UVA sunscreens available on the market right now. Its role in protecting skin from the potentially carcinogenic effects of UVA radiation, are what make it the most widely used chemical sunscreen ingredient.

Unfortunately, Avobenzone is known in the scientific community as a strong free radical generator that degrades fairly quickly in actual sunlight, rapidly reducing its effectiveness as a sunscreen. Which has to make you wonder ... can using this type of sunscreen actually cause more harm than good?

The results of one study done at the Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, showed that many widely used sunscreen chemicals, including benzophenone-3, octyl methoxycinnamate, and octyl-dimethyl-PABA, mimic the effects of the female hormone estrogen and trigger developmental abnormalities in rats.

And as far back as 1998, Dr. John Knowland at the University of Oxford, reported studies showing that certain sunscreens containing PABA and its derivatives can damage DNA, at least in the test tube experiments. When a chemical sunscreen, Padimate-O, was added to DNA and the mixture exposed to the ultraviolet rays of sunlight, it was found that the sunscreen broke down in sunlight, releasing highly active agents that could damage DNA.

Research by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) of over 1,500 sunscreens and other sun-blocking products currently on the market found that 3 of 5 sunscreens either don't protect skin from sun damage or contain hazardous chemicals --or both. In their 2009 Sunscreen Report they reported a 70% increase over 2008 in the number of products containing one ore more of the 4 strong UVA filters FDA has approved for use in sunscreens (Avobenzone, Mexoryl, Titanium Dioxide, and Zinc). Their research showed that despite the increased use of UVA filters, 1-in-9 products offer dangerously low levels of UVA protection.

In August 2007, the FDA proposed a 4-star rating system for UVA protection and a requirement that the rating appear on sunscreen labels. The FDA has not yet finalized this proposal though there has been talk that the new rules will finally be released in the fall of 2010. As a result of this delay, no brands are currently posting the new UVA rating voluntarily. With no mandatory, comprehensive sunscreen standards in place, products vary widely in safety and effectiveness, natural product manufacturers aren't able to offer safer products, mothers fret, and the public continues to lose out.

Copyright 2010 Dropwise Essentials

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR EZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include this complete blurb with it: Donya Fahmy, is a green business owner and the creator of Dropwise Essentials' spa-quality aromatherapy body products that help you safely relieve stress, increase vitality, improve confidence, or simply manage your emotional state any time or place without popping a pill. For more free tips and valuable information visit www.dropwise.com and subscribe to the Dropwise Health & Beauty News Ezine or blog feed.

What's new in the Aroma Zone this week:

Update on the State of Sunscreens: The More Things Change, The More They Stay The Same!

What We Still Don't Know About Sunscreens: A Running Debate

If you enjoy the articles in this newsletter then be sure to visit our blog The Aroma Zone for even more valuable articles, practical tips, and helpful resources on Aromatherapy, Health & Beauty, and Greener & Better Living. You can access the blog any time by clicking on the links to the Aroma Zone found throughout our site. If you don't want to miss anything then you can subscribe to the RSS Feed and all new posts will be sent to you via email.

Please feel free to post comments. Your feedback is always welcome. If you have a burning question about something send it in an email to feedback@dropwise.com.

Dropwise Essentials is a San Francisco-based manufacturer of pure aromatherapy and organic plant-based personal care products that give people a safe and effective way to relieve stress, increase vitality, improve confidence, or manage their emotional state any time or place without popping a pill. Our products are:

• Free of synthetic chemicals and petroleum ingredients
• Made with high quality certified organic oils and pure essential oils sourced from around the world
• Packaged in re-usable or recyclable materials
• Hand-made locally in northern California

Dropwise Essentials was founded by Donya Fahmy, a writer, producer, and consultant whose avid interest in the curative powers of aromatherapy and herbs ultimately led her to design and create the seven products and seventeen unique essential oil blends that make up the current Dropwise product line. She has studied aromatherapy with Carol Schiller - a successful author of several aromatherapy books - and with Dr. Daniel Penoel - a renowned expert in the field of medical aromatherapy.

Dropwise Essentials is a proud member of the Indie Beauty Network (formerly the Handmade Beauty Network), the Green America Business Network (formerly Co-op America), Green Product Alliance, Natural Ingredient Resource Center, and a Friend of PETA. We were among the first companies to join the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics by signing their Compact for Safe Cosmetics – which simply formalizes our existing commitment to formulate products free of known or potentially toxic ingredients.