Is Sunscreen Safe?

It's summer. And that means it's time to get out the sunscreen.

Or not.

Sunscreen protects us from the harmful rays of the sun. Too much exposure to sun can lead to wrinkles, skin cancer and melanoma, a deadly form of skin cancer.

But sunscreen also contains chemicals which can seep into the body, or seep into water and affect aquatic life, as well as drinking water.

"As a physician, my first priority is to take care of patients," said Dr. Elizabeth Liotta, a Frederick dermatologist.

She recommends people consider physical sunscreens, rather than chemical. "They don't cause a rash on your skin," she said. Physical sunscreens work to block the sun from entering your skin, as opposed to chemical sunscreens, which minimize the effects of the sun's rays.

The sun emits two types of ultraviolet rays, UVA and UVB. Most sunscreens protect from UVA rays; some protect from UVB.

Titanium and zinc oxide are the best-known physical sunscreens. The Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit organization that tests many products for human health hazards, said that sunscreen without zinc and titanium exposes people to an average of 20 percent more UVA radiation.

Those sunscreens also contain an average of four times as many hazardous ingredients known or strongly suspected to cause cancer or birth defects, or to contain endocrine disrupters that can be absorbed through the skin. Endocrine disrupters upset the human reproductive system. Basically, they affect hormone production, causing either too much or too little.

Liotta does not recommend spray sunscreens. "The spray gets into the air and doesn't get onto you," she said.

Aside from the ingredients in chemical sunscreens, Liotta said people often don't apply enough sunscreen, or apply it often enough, for it to work properly. "It reduces some of the rays," she said. "It doesn't reduce all the rays."