There are no federal regulations defining the use of words like ‘natural’ or ‘green’ when it pertains to biodegradable sunscreens, personal care products or cosmetics. Some brands will add a very small percentage of an ingredient in their products, then put safe, natural, green or organic on the label. This is not only misleading, but is not cool! The chemist, the explorer and the environmentalist all wish for a world where every consumer reads the ingredients panel of every product they choose to use… and begins to pick out some ingredients that may not only be harmful to your body, but also to our fragile marine environment. Here are some key body care and sunscreen ingredients to avoid that we’d like you to be conscious of:
Benzophenone-3, also know as Oxybenzone
Avobenzone, also a benzophenone
A very common ingredient in FDA approved chemical-based sunscreens. Avobenzone is often used in replace of Oxybenzone, but is still a benzophenone and holds with it similar risks associated with Oxybenzone. This ingredient works the same as oxybenzone in that it penetrates the skin and is also used to help other chemicals penetrate the skin. It also photodegrades in with exposure to sunlight, increasing free radicals in the skin, increasing risks of types of skin cancer as well as photocontact alltergies to sunscreens. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19856938