Stay Safe in the Sun

The sun helps your body naturally create vitamin D, an important nutrient for your bones, your immune system and your hormonal health. The use of sunscreen can interfere with vitamin D production in the body. That said, sunburns create damage in the skin and make you more susceptible to skin changes and cancer over time. We recommend 10-15 minutes of sun exposure without sunscreen a few times per week to allow for vitamin D production. Then, cover up with one of our recommended sunscreens.

Keep Your Hat On

One of the easiest methods for sun-protection is using a physical barrier between you and the sun. Wearing light colored long-sleeves and pants provides the physical barrier between you and the sun’s rays, but allows you to adjust sun exposure as you wish. Keep an extra-wide brimmed hat in your car for hiking or other outdoor activities.

Get a Sun Safety App

Check out the D-Minder app, where you can input information about your skin tone, percentage of skin exposure, your location, and even your vitamin D blood level, and it will calculate your proximity to the sun and how much time you need outdoors without sunscreen to reach optimal vitamin D levels.

Choosing a Sunscreen – SPF

The SPF (Sun Protection Factor) on your bottle of sunscreen indicates the length of time you can stay outside in the sun without incurring a sunburn or irritation from UVB rays. Most sunscreens on the market filter out only UVB rays. These are the rays most associated with sunburns, however UVA rays are associated with premature aging. Look for a sunscreen product that includes both UVA and UVB coverage.

SPF cannot filter out 100% of UVB rays. An SPF of 15 offers 93% filtration of UVB rays, while SPF 30 does 97% filtration and SPF 50 filters about 98% of rays. There seems to be no real benefit to using sunscreens with SPF ratings higher than 50.

Chemical Sun Blockers & Physical Sun Blockers

Chemical sun blockers use compounds to catalyze a chemical reaction when they’re exposed to the sun. Many chemical sunscreens contain ingredients that may be harmful for health of you or aquatic ecosystems. Check the ingredient list before you purchase and make sure to avoid anything that is not labeled “Reef Safe.”

Avoid sunscreens with any of these ingredients:

Para amino benzoic acid (PABA)
Octyl salicylate
Avobenzone
Oxybenzone
Cinoxate
Padimate O
Dioxybenzone
Phenylbenzimidazole
Homosalate
Sulisobenzon
Menthyl anthranilate
Trolamine salicyclate
Octocrylene

Physical sun blockers contain “mineral filters,” such as zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, that block harmful UV radiation without penetrating healthy skin. Unlike other sunscreen chemicals, zinc and titanium are not allergenic, do not break down in sunlight and do not disrupt the body’s natural hormones. When applied, zinc and titanium work as a physical barrier by absorbing, scattering, and reflecting both UVA and UVB rays off the skin when the sun hits it.

Avoid Nanoparticles

Some sunscreens contain nanoparticles such as nanominerals, i.e. nano-zinc oxide. While research isn’t settled on whether nano-zinc oxide is better than regular zinc oxide, we caution against using sunscreens with nanoparticles. Also, avoid sunscreen powders and sprays with nanoparticles because chemicals could be inhaled and cause respiratory damage.

Guide to Safe Sunscreen Brands

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has a comprehensive guide on sunscreens here. This guide discusses sunscreen ingredients that should be included and those that should be avoided for the healthiest sun protection.

Still concerned about your skin and aging gracefully?  Check out this post for more tips on ways to incorporate diet and lifestyle changes to keeping your skin and body healthy.