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Sunscreen safety... what's the bottom line?

Last week, the Environmental Working Group released their annual Sunscreen Guide to help consumers navigate the world of safe sun protection for the whole family. Doctors, sunscreen advocates and trade groups are responding and once again, there seems to be a lot of confusion out there as evidenced by the misleading articles and headlines seen across the blogosphere and news outlets. “Sunscreen Ingredients May Increase Cancer Risk” (Care2), “Your Sunscreen Could Give You Cancer Instead of Fighting it Off” (CafeMom) and “Avoid Sunscreens with Potentially Harmful Ingredients, Group Warns” (CNN) are just a small sample of the headlines coming out as a result of the EWG’s latest guide.

As a melanoma survivor and sunscreen manufacturer, I spend a lot of time thinking about sunscreen. Not much has changed from my post last summer except that more research has been published pointing towards optimal sunscreen active ingredients and confirming the wisdom behind abiding by the precautionary principle. For those of you in search of the bottom line amidst the current confusion around sunscreen, here are my thoughts, based on what we know to be true today. Importantly, these are all points that I feel the EWG and dermatologists could support. There is a lot of common sense found in the common ground!   Read more »

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Breast Cancer Fund Celebrates 20th Anniversary

Tuesday night the MVO team helped celebrate the Breast Cancer Fund’s 20 year Anniversary. Each year the BCF honors the Heroes that work to eliminate exposure to toxic chemicals and radiation linked to breast cancer. The BCF has been instrumental in identifying links between Breast Cancer and the environment. They have shown clear links to early puberty in little girls and have led the charge to eliminate BPA (BPA Cans NOT Cancer). They are big advocates of early screening for all.

Jeanne Rizzo, the BCF, CEO introduced the 2012 Hero, the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and all the 57 past Heroes. She talked about all the accomplishments and said that they were clearly at a tipping point. It’s time to take action to push the system toward prevention.

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EWG Sunscreen Guide 2012... What's the Bottom Line?

Just-released 2012 Sunscreen Guide published by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) sheds much-needed light on sun protection issues once again. Each year they focus on a particular aspect of the sun protection story that does not get much play in the mainstream press. This year they talk about the FDA regulations that didn’t happen and what that means for the consumer, expose manufacturers who market sunscreens for children that turn out to be exactly the same as the adult versions, down to the same concentrations of ingredients, celebrate the increased use of safer ingredients, especially mineral versus chemical UV filters for children, and mention in several contexts the UVA protection gap.

Its no secret how committed we are to safe, effective mineral (non nano zinc oxide) sunscreens--being named one of the safest lines on the market in all categories is what we strive for. We're happy to report, again, the EWG has ranked our sunscreen products among the safest, most effective on the market:

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WSJ.com Post Gets It Right About Doing Sunscreen Wrong

Even the most diligent, well-intentioned daily sunscreen wearers are likely doing it wrong.

The most popular WSJ.com post this past week was about sunscreen, in which it observed: “Even the most diligent, well-intentioned daily sunscreen wearers are likely doing it wrong.” It’s disturbingly easy to get it wrong, and the problem lies more with a deluge of information, sometimes conflicting, on the subject rather than a lack of it. This post sheds some light on the important factors to take into account when choosing and using a sunscreen.

The Role Played by UVA and UVB Rays

Not all UV rays reach the earth and therefore your skin. Some UVB rays are absorbed by the earth’s ozone layer while 97% of the radiation that reaches the earth’s surface is UVA. This is important to note because up until recently, most sunscreens only addressed UVB radiation.

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Poisonous Perfume? Revealing the Dangers of Fragrance

Last week, I accompanied my mom to an appointment with her doctor who is supporting her through the challenges of a terminal illness. After the appointment, she went home and I walked around looking at skin care products -- which, as a manufacturer of skin care products, I often do. I entered a bustling, extremely popular Sephora store and I was met with a wall of perfumes, all made with synthetic fragrance. When I asked if they had many products in the store made without synthetic fragrance, I was told that they did not. As I watched consumers load products into their shopping baskets, on the heels of my sobering morning, I wanted to yell: "Doesn't anyone know how bad this stuff is for you!?" I was particularly unnerved because some fragrances have been shown to contain benzene, which has been linked to MDS, my mom's illness.

In 2010, the President's Cancer Panel published a report on cancer risks from chemicals. They concluded that: "The burden of environmentally induced cancers has been grossly underestimated" and highlighted benzene, found in synthetic fragrance, as one of the more concerning substances.

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