Talk to me about nanoparticles and sunscreen

[imjustpeachytou]

I am looking for sunscreen recs

[jazzharmony]

We use Badger sunblock. From what I understand, the safest are sunblocks which have a barrier to protect from the sun (zinc, etc) rather than sunscreens which get absorbed into the skin.
We really rely on hats and protective clothing.

[SuzyLee]

We use badger, etc with the zinc oxide when possible.

However in reality it doesn't work well for us- as soon as it gets rubbed off (which for my 1 year old is about 5 minutes) it is done. The second he gets in the sandbox for example, he rubs it off and has no more protection.

So if we really need him protected for an hour+ we glob on the regular stuff.

[imjustpeachytou]

Originally Posted by SuzyLee

We use badger, etc with the zinc oxide when possible.

However in reality it doesn't work well for us- as soon as it gets rubbed off (which for my 1 year old is about 5 minutes) it is done. The second he gets in the sandbox for example, he rubs it off and has no more protection.

So if we really need him protected for an hour+ we glob on the regular stuff.

That doesn't scare you? I mean honestly, I am less afraid of skin cancer than I am of the chemicals in sunscreen. Using sunscreen hasn't ever been proven to reduce the risk of melanoma, and some studies have actually shown the sunscreen users have an increased risk of melanoma. I am seriously considering doing controlled unprotected sun exposure. Start with small increments of time and gradually increasing it, allowing my kids to become tan It just doesn't make sense to me that more and more people are using sunscreen to the point of obsession (like many people use sunscreen every.single.day even if they won't be outside for more than a total of 30 minutes or less all day), yet skin cancer rates are skyrocketing. I am sure some of that can be attributed to the advent of tanning beds, but I don't think tanning beds are 100% to blame.

[ChickyMama]

A nanometer is used to define the diameter of a fine particle. Fine particles cover a range between 100 and 2500 nanometers. Ultrafine particles or nanoparticles are sized between 1 and 100 nanometers.

Many sunscreen companies that consider themselves natural and safe use nanoparticle zinc oxide and many even choose not to disclose this fact. There are numerous concerns regarding the use of nanotechnology, specifically related to skin care products. Most of these are due to the high surface to volume ratio, which can make the particles very reactive or catalytic. They are also able to pass through cell membranes in organisms, and their interactions with biological systems are relatively unknown.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nano_particle

Hope this info helps!

~Diana

[Shirada]

We have been using Badger sunscreen since last summer. I liked it until I read something about lavender oil and hormones. I cannot recall exactly and your post reminds me that I need to research that. I just ordered Soleo but haven't used it yet. I would feel better about using Badger if it were unscented.

[Elizabeth2008]

I bought a bunch of Badger thinking they were a great sunscreen because it's zinc oxide based and seems like a good company, then I found out they use nanoparticles! I am now going to get Soleo. It's frustrating, the minute you think you've found an all natural product, there's some other thing in there that you didn't know about!

[Shirada]

OMG! Are you serious? Elizabeth2008, please could you give me the link where you read that about Badger.

Thanks so much!

I just read this from the Badger website:

http://www.badgerbalm.com/t-SPF_FAQ.aspx#nano

[blessedwithboys]

I've been using UV Natural for my super-dee-duper-white boy. I don't use it often, and when I do, it's only above the neck. We live in FL, so he never leaves the house unless he's wearing pants and LS shirts. We also single-handedly keep Coolibar in business. LOL He always wears a legionnaire hat and sunglasses and at school uses the Coolibar face shield.

So, we don't use sunblock often, but when we do, it's on his face, ears, and throat. Now I need to go research the stuff they put in that...I thought oil-based would be good since they left out the water and didn't need preservatives. Being conscious is sooo hard! LOL

[Hazelnut]

I do like badger. We got totally bronzed on UV naturals, so this year I poisoned us all by using alba botanica organic stuff. Yes, it's chemical. But no one minds it and it works well. If we're out for long and I'm really slathering it on, then I use badger. It's the least greasy to me. I wish I could retain more what I read about nanoparticles. All I know is that we were really getting suntans (damage) from using only uv naturals in our limited outside play. I try to focus more on hats and coverage and limited hours.

[Elizabeth2008]

This is the information directly from Badger: "Badger uses micronized zinc oxide with average mean and median particle sizes both greater than 100nm. These particles range in size from about 70nm to 300nm, so yes, a fraction of our zinc oxide is nanoparticles."

Particles under 100nm are nanoparticles and can penetrate the skin (and enter the bloodstream and possibly the brain). I am annoyed how they try to make it sound like "there are no studies that prove nanoparticles are dangerous". But that's just the point. It's brand new technology and not much is known about it. Neither the skin care industry nor the FDA seem at all interested in doing any studies on its safety because there is so much money to be made in nanotechnology. Badger points to their "median particle size" which again is so misleading. Who cares what the median size is. So they have some nanoparticles and some that are not and they are giving us the average. Why don't they just eliminate them. They don't need to have nanoparticles at all. This reminds me of Dr. Brown's bottles when they kept trying to defend having Biphenol-A in their plastic because it "was legal" and not "proven to be a health hazard". Just get with the program and get rid of the stuff!