As our climate warms, sun protection is becoming more and more important. However, sunscreens are getting more and more bad press for health and environmental reasons. But does that mean you should stop using sunscreen?
The answer to this is emphatically no. Sunscreen isn’t some luxury or nice to have item, it’s an essential for your health.
And while the evidence that sun creams and sprays have a negative impact on our environment is growing, there are other ways to protect our planet than stopping to protect our skin.
I did a lot of research and read many scientific studies to find out what would be the best thing to do for me and the environment. And it’s not stopping to use sun protection in the form of lotions.
Want to find out how and why I came to this decision and what I’m doing instead? Let’s go…
Sunscreen Is A Vital Tool To Prevent Skin Cancer
The NHS, Cancer Reserach UK and many other health professionals around the world recommend that people use sunscreen to protect their skin from the sun’s UV rays.
And their advice is based on scientific evidence that clearly shows that sunscreen is effective in stopping these UV rays from causing damage.
So let’s have a look at what the research tells us.
UV Rays And Their Impact On Our Skin
The sun sends out three types of rays: UVA, UVB and UVC. The latter is completely absorbed by our ozone layer and won’t reach us. About 95% of UVB rays are also absorbed by this protective layer, but most (around 95%) of UVA rays make it through and reach us. (Chavada et al., 2023)
So the ones that are a risk to our skin are UVA and UVB. The former can penetrate deep into the dermis, the second layer of our skin. The latter only reaches as far as the epidermis, which is the first layer of our skin, and is responsible for sun burns.
But both can cause damage to the skin: including the mutation, ageing and death of cells. Which damage is done will depend on the level of reactive oxygen species (ROS), which are created by UV rays. Cell death and mutation are the most severe consequences of sun exposure, as it can increase the risk of skin cancer. (Wei et al., 2024)
And it can cause skin cancer of both categories: melanomas and non-melanomas. Melanoma can be deadly. By the way, scientists are also clear that it’s not just UV radiation from the sun that can cause this harm, but also artificial UV rays from sun beds. (Tang et al., 2023)
There are many more studies than I have cited here that have shown that there is a link between UV exposure and skin cancer.
How Sunscreen Works
Given the harm UV radiation can do to our skin, protection from it seems like a brilliant idea. So let’s have a look at how sunscreens work to protect us from these harmful rays.
Sun lotions, creams and sprays contain one type of active ingredient: UV filters. While there are other ingredients, it’s the UV filters that protect you from the harmful sun rays.
There are two types: chemical and mineral, or as scientists prefer to call them organic and inorganic UV filters, according to the British Skin Foundation.
While they work in a similar way, there is a slight difference. Chemical UV filters absorb the UV rays and turn them into heat. Their mineral counterparts absorb the rays and then scatter them.
The upshot though is that they both prevent the harmful UVA and UVB rays from reaching our skin.
If You Stop Using Sunscreen, You Risk Your Health
As you can see, the harm UV rays can cause us is very serious. And unless you decide to stay indoors most of the time, sunscreen is vital to protect you. This is why I decided not to ditch sun creams and lotions.
But there is no getting away from the fact that there is growing scientific evidence that UV filters used in sunscreens negatively impact our environment. So rather than stopping to use such vital protection, I looked for ways to reduce the negative impact while still protecting my skin.
Here are the things I’m now doing, and you can do too…
Protecting Your Skin And The Planet
1. Stay Out Of The Sun As Much As Possible
This is something I have done to some degree all my life. I have very fair skin and burn easily, so I never really liked sitting in the sun too much, even when wearing sunscreen.
But while in the past avoiding the sun was more of an intuition or reflex, now I do it much more intentionally. This means I do any outdoor activities, such as gardening, walking or exercise early in the morning or late afternoon, to keep out of the sun when it’s the strongest.
I don’t sit in the sun, only in the shade whether this is in the garden, on the beach, when I’m having a meal or drink with friends or a picnic in the park.
Once you get into this mindset, it will become automatic that you will seek out shade. That’s what happened to me.
This enables me to use less sunscreen and thereby reduce the impact I have on our environment.
2. Cover Up More
Now this can be a tricky one to achieve. When the sun is shining, and it’s hot, the last thing you want is to wear long sleeves and trousers or skirts, I get it. But research has shown that covering up offers better protection than wearing sunscreen, because most people don’t use enough.
And it’s also the advice that the NHS gives for protecting yourself from the sun.
However, it has to be the right clothing, as not all fabrics block out UV rays as well as others. Polyester and wool do the best job, whereas linen and cotton aren’t as effective. Thicker and darker materials are also better than thinner and lighter ones. (Wang et al., 2010)
I’m not a fan of polyester, due to it shedding synthetic fibres, which end up as microplastic in our environment. But Wang et al. have also discovered that washing clothes improves their UV protection. The scientists think that’s because it makes the fabric shrink.
So an old long-sleeved t-shirt probably offers quite good protection. That’s great news, because it means I don’t have to buy new clothes. And I do still have polyester garments, especially my exercise gear, which I won’t just throw away and which should help protect me too.
But it’s not just clothing that protects you from the sun: hats and sunglasses are also a must. While it took me some time to get used to wearing hats, it’s now part of my sun protection routine.
If you have a hat that has a wide brim, it won’t just protect your head, but also your face, neck and ears, by shading them from the sun. So cover up as much as you can.
Again, by ensuring more areas of my body are protected by clothing or a hat, I can use less sun cream, which is better for our environment.
3. Use Most Eco-Friendly Sunscreen
Studies have shown that some organic (chemical) UV filters can contribute to coral bleaching (Moeller et al., 2021) and even inorganic (mineral) UV filters can impact negatively on aquatic life (Wong et al., 2020).
While no sunscreen is 100% safe for our environment, scientists seem to agree that mineral UV filters in non-nano form have the smallest impact on our marine life.
This means I only use sunscreens that contain zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, which are the two inorganic UV filters used in sun creams and lotions. It’s not always easy to find out if the nano or non-nano version is used though.
Most eco-friendly brands will make it clear that they use non-nano mineral UV filters though, and these are the ones I’m using. If a product doesn’t mention whether the mineral filters are non-nano or not and the website doesn’t give more information either, I just keep away from it.
If the company doesn’t explicitly say that they are using the non-nano version, the chances are their mineral UV filters are in nano form.
Together with the other two measures, using the most eco-friendly sunscreen available helps me to protect my skin from the sun, while also keeping the impact on our environment to a minimum.
So if you are worried about the planet, don’t stop using sunscreen, but adopt these measures so that both you and our environment are protected.
