Friday, April 25, 2008

The Sunscreen Dilema

You may have heard...the world is going to shit...thanks to us. This makes parenthood just that more challenging because keeping our kids safe...besides being all but impossible....is tricky as a mo fo. Sunscreen is no exception.

Exposure to toxic chemicals, which are in everything from hygiene products to food & water to the containers we use, the clothes we wear & toys we play with....is overwhelming to process and understand. Thank GOD this is getting mainstream press nowadays! This last week was the first time in my LIFE that the people I know were TALKING about plastic leaching in baby bottle and sippy cups..and taking it serious! When I shared the info with them...they ignored me...but shit...what Good Morning America says is like God talk or something??? Whatever it takes. But anyhoo I am getting off subject (surprise). ( and btw...Grant still has some plastic sippy cups so I am a hypocrite I admit...but I do have a stainless steel sippy cup on my wish list)

Point being....when it comes to sunscreen...IT ALMOST ALL SUCKS. When you check out the amazing and humbling Skin Deep to compare products...it is VERY clear that one must be V selective when choosing one ...especially for the little people (who are far less mutated and thus somewhat beyond help as we grown ups are).

Here is the the list that the Environmental Working Group's Skin Deep Cosmetic Database put together of the Safest and best working sunscreens. I urge you to check it out and make informed choices about something that seems so simple but of course is not. (cuss here) You can also search for the sunscreens you most likely already have in your possession...and see what the HELL is in it! Please be prepared to be disgusted.

Best advice: use clothing as much as possible to block the suns harmful UVA and UVB rays. Seek out shade and when necessary go ahead and lather on the SAFE and EFFECTIVE sunscreen that you so carefully researched and chose. Good mama :)

1 comment:

Alison said...

We get a lot of sun where we live, yet finding effective and safe sunscreen is almost impossible!
I did find one that I liked and that worked for myself and the girls and I now order it over the internet as there are no shops which stock it in our region. Or the next one. Or the next one.
Had to laugh at 'God' Morning America. Pathetic, huh?