Sunscreens - Biohazard : Treat As Hazardous Waste

A must read for anyone who puts sunscreen oils or blocks on their body. Dr. Plourde exposes the hazards of these biochemicals with an enormous amount of literature and documentation to back it up. As she says, there are no safe sunscreens. --Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C. Co-Author of Earthing

---- Stephen T. Sinatra, M.D., F.A.C.C. Co-Author of Earthing

Be wary of plastering yourself with sunscreen: not only may it be ineffective in filtering our UVA and UVB rays, it may be carcinogenic and also casue irreparable damage to aquatic environments. Medical researcher and clinical laboratory scientist Elizabeth Plourde, PhD, has over 25 years' experience in medical research including in cancer, genetics and endocrinology. In Sunscreens - Biohazard, inspired bya trip to sun soaked Hawaii and her reaction to bleached corals, she brings her scientific knowledge to bear on just how disruptive the chemicals in sunscreens really are. Many sunscreens now incorporate nanoparticle forms of the metallic zinc oxide and titanium dioxide as surface screens, yet the particulates allow for the absorption of even more UVA rays and also present a real danger to aquatic creatures by disrupting the entire local ecology.

It is alarming that rates of various types of skin cancer are on the rise, despite education campaigns and the vastly increased uptake of sunscreen preparations. The endocrine-disrupting chemicals that make up these sunscreens can play havoc with cell division and cause cancer, chronic illnesses, autism and other neurological problems. Not only that, they can prevent the uptake of vitamin D, which is essential to our health and is best absorbed through sunscreen-free sunlight exposure in short bursts at the right time of day.

Dr. Plourde is to be applauded for her important book that regards sunscreens as hazardous waste. ---- Nexus Magazine Dec 2011 - Jan 2012 Issue

This book is a must-read for anyone who has been slathering their children in sunscreen on a regular basis, thinking that they are protecting them from skin cancer. The clear take-away message from the book is that our well-intentioned efforts to develop a chemical cocktail that would provide protection from skin cancer have soundly back-fired. Dr. Plourde first shows that sunscreens have not succeeded in protecting us from skin cancer. Despite the aggressive campaigns and the steady rise in the usage of sunscreens of ever-increasing SPF levels, the incidence of skin cancer has steadily risen over the last thirty years. She goes on to talk about how sunscreen has impacted the environment -- she points to the research literature to show evidence of extensive damage to algae, which are the base of the food chain in the ocean, and then subsequently to the fish and the coral in the sea as well. She takes the reader on a fascinating journey through the details of efforts to improve sunscreens by adding more and more chemicals, to block not just UVB but also UVA; to block not just UV but also infrared. She suggests that new products may be rushed to market before they have been properly tested, and we all become guinea pigs when we use them. She also has a chapter pointing out the importance of vitamin D3 to health, and the consequences of widespread vitamin D3 deficiency attributable to over-use of sunscreen. With over 500 references, the author's arguments are solidly backed up by the research literature, and anyone who wants to know more on any topic can simply look up those references. This book is a tour de force, and I hope it will help us become aware of the possible unexpected consequences of thinking we can develop chemicals that will protect us from cancer better than the natural methods that have evolved in the skin. -- ---- Stephanie Seneff, Ph.D. MIT Researcher
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