CDC Study Reveals Toxic Chemical in Sunscreens Contaminate 97% of Americans
The CDC also showed a higher concentration of oxybenzone in women, most likely due to its use in other cosmetics, including moisturizers which are advertised as having sunscreen capabilities. Ironically, women who use these products to seemingly protect their skin from free radical damage, which causes pre-mature aging of the skin, are actually contributing to such damage.
2006 University of California study published in the journal, “Free Radical Biology and Medicine,” showed the longer oxybenzone and two other sunscreen chemicals remained on the skin, the more free radical damage occurred. So even though doctors and health officials have touted sunscreens as the best method to protect our skin from free radical damage which leads to skin cancer, they actually increase the damage the longer the sunscreen is left on.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit research organization for public interest groups, lists nearly 600 sunscreen sold in the United States that contain oxybenzone. The EWG also states that one of every eight high SPF sunscreens do not protect against UV-A radiation. With so many sunscreens on the market now linked to this and other dangerous chemicals, it is not hard to see a correlation with the one million new skin cancer cases diagnosed in 2007 alone.
Skin cancer is now the number one diagnosed cancer in men and women in the world. Squamous cell and basal cell carcinomas make up the majority of skin cancers, while melanoma contributes to 75% of all skin cancer deaths according to WebMD.