Banning Many Sunscreen Products Will Increase Skin Cancer Risk

Source: Civil Beat, May 2018

Today, more than 70 percent of all sunscreens contain the critical ingredients oxybenzone or octinoxate for a good reason: they provide the vital broad-spectrum protection for high SPF sunscreens to block both UVA and UVB ultraviolet rays that can cause skin aging, skin damage and skin cancer. These medical ingredients are proven safe and effective, and are critical for skin cancer prevention.

But Hawaii legislators are currently considering a ban on these sunscreens. Why? Because they are either being dramatically misled by one questionable article that blames sunscreens for our damaged coral reefs or appear to avoid dealing with the real causes of reef damage. If only it was so simple that we could save our reefs by banning these sunscreen ingredients.

Non-melanoma skin cancer affects 3.5 million Americans every year. One million Americans have been diagnosed with melanoma, a potentially fatal skin cancer. Melanoma is now No. 7 in cancer-caused fatalities in the United States. Another 178,000 Americans will be diagnosed with melanoma this year.