Sunscreen products can be misleading, unsafe: watchdog

Melanomais the deadliest form of skin cancer, but it is also one of the most preventable, according to the Canadian Cancer Society.

It isimportant to keep tabs on what youre smearing and spraying onto your skin in an effort to prevent cancer, says aU.S. public health watchdog.

The non-profit Environmental Working Group has released its guide tothe safest, most effective sunscreens on the market, inits eighth annual report on the subject.

• Melanoma a fast rising cancer in Canada

We started because we realized there were no clear rules governing the use,marketing and formulation of sunscreen in the United States," senior EWG analyst SonyaLundersaid. "And as a result we were seeing some really misleading and unsafe products on the market.

The EWGlooksat active and inactive ingredients in sunscreen, rates formulations for their ability to protect skin from UVA and UVB rays,looks at stability of ingredients and checks for allergens and potentially dangerous chemicals.

Once all that data has been analyzed, products are classified on a rating system from zero, or low hazard, to 10, or high hazard.

In our opinion there are some ingredients that are pretty widely used in sunscreens that were concerned about or think shouldnt be in [it], Lunder said.

Know what's coating your skin

A common ingredient the EWG is wary of is retinyl palmitate,aform of vitamin A added to sunscreen as an antioxidant.

Federally funded researchfound that when you add this form of vitamin A to a skin cream and then put it on mice and expose them to UV radiation, they have higher rates of skin damage, skin tumours and lesions," Lunder said. "And this is because the ingredient breaks down to a phototoxic ingredient thats harmful to the skin.

Lunder says an early draft of Health Canadas sunscreen monograph was going to require a warning against this and other anti-aging ingredients, with specific recommendations.

When you use this product, you need to avoid the sun and you may be more sensitive to sunburn for up to a week afterward," she said. "And we found when we looked at the final rules that were passed last summer, that language had been removed."

Lunder said there are some easy tips to keep in mind when shopping for a safe,effectivesunscreen,andsuggested the first step is to avoidsunscreen packaged in an aerosol spray can.

The FDA has raised concerns here in the U.S. that these sunscreens may not coat your skin thick enough to provide adequate sun protection. And thats another issue:people spray and its hard to keep track of where youre spraying and its uncommon for people to spray enough on.

Health Canadas sunscreen monograph has specificrecommendations for sprayproducts as well, which include,Do not apply in windy conditions, use in a well-ventilated area and avoid inhaling.

Lunder also explained that Canada no longer permits SPF labels of higher than 50, though products in the U.S. are oftenlabelled as having SPF values of 51 up to 110. She said higher SPF values offer a false sense of security, so users don't reapply often enough or use enough of the product initially.

She also said to avoid buying sunscreen and bug spray packaged as one product.

Its an issue because often in the summer when youre outdoors you need both. But the problem is that for sunscreen, you need to be reapplying every two hours and for bug spray that may not be necessary."