Education Center

The Tiny Problem With Nanotech Sunscreens

Just when you thought that the beach was safe… another tiny beast hiding in personal care products rears its microscopic head. Sunscreen, that must-have accessory for warding off skin cancer, might be exposing you to a new danger: the health risks from nanoparticles in the lotion. Add that to the list of potentially harmful, untested ingredients in the sunscreens we rely on, and it’s no wonder consumers are confused.

The companies aren’t helping: some manufacturers are adding nanoparticles-incredibly small particles of otherwise familiar sunscreen ingredients like titanium dioxide and zinc oxide-to products without letting customers know that they’re buying nano ingredients.

Unlike their larger particle cousins, these nanoparticles can enter vital organs, tissues and even our bodies’ cells. Yet the U.S. FDA doesn’t require manufacturers of sunscreens or cosmetics to test ingredients, including nanoparticles, for health and safety. Since there is very limited data on what these little fellas can do to us long term, it seems like a bad idea to smear them all over our bodies, and the bodies of our children.

Nanotech may prove useful for scientific applications, but personal care products are the last place companies should be experimenting with it. What goes ON our bodies goes IN our bodies!

Take Action!
It’s time that the FDA protected consumers from hazards in personal care products! Ask the U.S. FDA to assess the safety of nano products before they go to market, and require companies to label products containing nanomaterials.

Choose Knowledge
Until government safeguards are in place to monitor nanotech’s risks, it’s up to consumers to attempt to navigate whether the products they use contain nano ingredients. Friends of the Earth, a founding member of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics, has just released a guide to help consumers choose nanoparticle-free sunscreens. The guide, Nanomaterials, Sunscreens and Cosmetics: Small Ingredients, Big Risks lists sunscreens that do and don’t contain nano ingredients, and identifies the many brands that haven’t clarified either way.

Environmental Working Group, another founding member of the Campaign, also has a sunscreen report that helps consumers choose a safer, effective sunscreen. “No Nano Particles” is one of the useful search options EWG provides for consumers looking for safer sunscreens.

Practice Alternatives to Chemical Protection
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in the United States. According to the National Human Genome Research Institute, an estimated 40 to 50 percent of Americans who live to age 65 will have skin cancer at least once. So be safe, and keep cool! There are many non-chemical ways to keep your skin safe:
• Stay in the shade, especially during the sun’s peak hours. Bring an umbrella to the beach!
• Cover up with clothing, a brimmed hat and UV-blocking sunglasses
• Avoid tanning and UV tanning booths, and check the safety of skin bronzers in the Skin Deep database
• Examine your skin head-to-toe every month
• See your physician every year for a professional skin exam

Learn More
For more info on nanotechnology, check out the Woodrow Wilson Center’s Project on Emerging Nanotechnologies Inventory of Nanotechnology Consumer Products, explore the nanomaterials section of Friends of the Earth’s Web site or read the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics nanotechnology position.

This article brought to you courtesy of the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics (http://www.safecosmetics.org/)

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