Does Zinc Oxide mineral sunscreen compare to chemical sunscreens?

Do you know what’s in your sunscreen? Most people think that commercial sunscreens protect against skin cancer. Chemical sunscreens do protect against sunburn but there is no scientific proof they protect against skin cancer. Is Zinc Oxide a safe, mineral alternative?

Why use Zinc oxide as a sunscreen?
• Zinc oxide is a natural mineral known as zincite. It has been used safely for generations to shield against the harmful effects of the sun.
• Zinc oxide is used because it provides a thin film of micro-fine particles over the skin. This ensures a protective physical barrier over the skin ensuring the most complete protection for your skin all year round.
• Physical sun blocks, such as zinc oxide, work by physically reflecting the sun’s rays and are effective against both UV-B and UV-A rays.
• Unlike chemical sunscreen ingredients, zinc oxide cannot be absorbed into the skin and is not metabolized by the body.
• Additionally, unlike most chemical sunscreen ingredients, zinc oxide is known to be stable and it won’t degrade in the sun. As well, it is the only sunscreen ingredient recognized by the FDA as a Category I Skin Protectant and is recommended for use on environmentally challenged skin.
• Zinc oxide is for the most part insoluble in water, but is soluble in acids and alkalis. Used as a Sunscreen and anti-bacteria in cosmetics, zinc oxide has excellent screen effect to UV-A and UV-B.
• Safe for use on lips, face, body and nails.
• Zinc oxide is the only ingredient that is FDA recognised as having both UVB and UVA broad spectrum protection
• Zinc oxide is Micronised (nanoparticles) so that our skin does not have that heavy white effect on the surface (like traditional zinc formulas). This makes the treatment practical and means people actually wear it.

Chemical Sunscreens
• Chemical sunscreen ingredients are designed to absorb portions of the UVB (burning rays) or UVA (cause of aging and skin cancer) rays and are often used in combination to achieve adequate UVB and at best, limited UVA protection.
• Many sunscreens only protect against UVB rays and allow penetration of damaging UVA rays
• Common chemical sunscreen ingredients are known carcinogens and/or hormone disrupters, including diethanolamine, triethanolamine (DEA, TEA), padimate-o, octyl dimethyl PABA, benzophenone, oxybenzone, homosalate, octyl-methoxycinnamate (octinoxate), salicylates, and parabens.

UV-A and UV-B – what are they?
UV-B rays are most commonly associated with sunburns but it is the UV-A rays which penetrate through the outer layers of the skin to the dermis, or base layer of the skin.
UV-A rays are thought by many to cause wrinkling or premature aging of the skin. As well, UV-A rays can cause suppression of the immune system and can contribute to the development of melanoma. Sunscreens which chemically absorb rays have long been effective against UV-B rays. New chemicals are being added today to help screen some UV-A rays. Some of these chemicals, however, are thought to deteriorate in light and could possibly interrupt with UV-B absorbing ingredients, while others can cause irritations to the skin or worse.

Is there a safe sunscreen product?
It seems that there are no definitive answers to this question, and this may be one of those issues where we need to choose what offers the least harm. Of course, covering with clothing is always the safest, but this is not always practical, especially if our kids will be swimming in the sun for long periods. Recommendations: stay out of the sun from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. or cover with hats and clothing during these times. If you will be out in the sun for long periods or swimming, use a micronised zinc oxide sunscreen. Moderate sunshine every day is healthy. Exposed to longer periods of sun means we need to protect ourselves with the least toxic means possible.
www.naturalskinandbeauty.com offers a sunscreen product with micronised zinc/ oxide as the only active ingredient. There will always be articles that claim that zinc oxide could be unsafe. We can't say it's 100% safe (no product natural or chemical based can make this claim!). But it is the least toxic option that provides the greatest protection, next to covering up with clothing.

The sunscreen mineral zinc oxide is recognised as the most effective natural sunscreen. Sunscreen without the toxicity! Comfortable to use on babies, children, adults, grandparents… the whole family!