Photo by edbockstock

Remember to lube your kids, who are most vulnerable to permanent sun damage. Photo by Agata Dorobek

skin helpers

It's sensible to protect skin with sunscreen, but what if it's already damaged? "Almost everybody has some sun damage," says Shirley Kasperbauer, owner of the Mystic Garden Spa & Salon in Longmont. "It starts when they're kids, but usually doesn't show up until they're in their 30s and 40s. The good news is that although we can't completely repair damaged skin, we can help it look softer and more radiant with proper care." Here are some treatments her spa uses to minimize sun damage: • Gardener's Facials: The spa's deep-cleansing facial and hydration facial are designed to help restore skin. • Microdermabrasion: This treatment gently scrubs away dead skin cells, reducing fine lines and dark spots caused by sun damage or naturally hyperpigmented skin. • Chemical Peels: More aggressive than microdermabrasion, chemical peels use glycolic or salicylic acids to mildly exfoliate or deeply peel away dead skin cells. • Skin Whitening: This treatment lightens the skin, and spot treatments can help eliminate brown skin patches. 'Michael Whiteman-Jones Photo by Sergei Telegin

Making Sense of Sunscreen

Catching rays in the garden is a nice pastime, but can we depend on sunscreens to adequately protect our skin?

By Michael Whiteman-Jones

Studies show gardening reduces stress, helps prevent heart disease, improves dexterity and boosts memory. But gardeners work outdoors, and sunlight prematurely ages skin and causes cancer.

It's a particular problem in Colorado, which receives about 300 days of intense, high-altitude sunshine annually and has a skin cancer rate 30 percent higher than the rest of the country, according to the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD). That intensity also increases by 10 to 15 percent for every 1,000 feet in elevation, and about 80 percent of the sun's harmful UVA rays still penetrate clouds on Colorado's few overcast days.

Local gardeners must address this, because about 90 percent of the changes attributed to aging–wrinkles, scaly patches, blemishes, brown spots and rashes–are sun-caused, according to the Skin Cancer Foundation in New York City. Worse yet, sun overexposure is thought to be the culprit in more than 1 million new cases of skin cancer diagnosed annually in the U.S., making it the most common cancer.

Some solutions are obvious: Wear broad-brimmed hats, protective clothing and wraparound sunglasses with lenses that block damaging ultraviolet light, and stay out of the garden at midday, when the sun is most intense. Sunscreens also help, but they raise concerns: How do they work, and are they effective and safe?

How Sunscreens Work

Suncreens were invented in the 1930s by American, French and Australian chemists, with a lot of the credit going to Eugene Schueller, founder of L'Oréal cosmetics company. But sunscreens didn't catch on until World War II, when Florida pharmacist Benjamin Green created a sunscreen to prevent debilitating sunburns on soldiers stationed in the South Pacific. By 1949, sales of his jasmine-scented Coppertone suntan cream had reached $4 million and spawned an industry.

Early sunscreens blocked only the UVB light that causes sunburns and is directly linked to skin cancer. Later, broad-spectrum sunscreens designed to block both UVB and UVA light were introduced. UVA rays cause tanning and penetrate deeply into the skin, where they can cause long-term damage and indirectly trigger cancer by altering skin cells.

All sunscreens block, absorb or reflect sunlight. According to the AAD, there are three main types of sunscreen ingredients: petroleum-based sunscreens that block UVB rays, made with chemicals like padimate O, homosalate, octyl methoxycinnamate, benzophenone, octyl salicylate, phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid and octocrylene; broad-spectrum sunscreens that block UVA rays by adding the petrochemicals oxybenzone, avobenzone or mexoryl; and sunblocks that contain the minerals titanium dioxide and zinc oxide to physically block sunlight. The latter are especially useful for people with chemical sensitivities.

Sunscreen washes off as you sweat and can leave those oft-forgotten areas like necks and ears scorched. Photo by Christina Richards

Experts say consumers should look for sunscreens with a Sun Protection Factor (SPF) of at least 15, but pass over products with super-high SPF ratings. SPF 15 sunscreens block about 93 percent of UVB light, while SPF 30 blocks about 97 percent, according to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Jumping from SPF 15 to 45 doesn't triple the protection; it only raises it 4 percent to 5 percent. And you're on your own when it comes to judging whether broad-spectrum products are effective at blocking both UVB and UVA light, because the FDA has yet to approve a rating system for such products. Some products block both well; others don't'no matter what their labels say.

Also be aware of poorly regulated marketing terms, such as PABA-free, sunblock, waterproof and all-day protection. Almost no sunscreens contain PABA, a once-popular sunscreen ingredient that fell out of favor because of concerns about allergic dermatitis and photosensitivity (the PABA derivative padimate O is still relatively common, however).

Furthermore, no sunscreen is completely effective; they all break down'often in sunlight itself'and usually wash off readily in water or as you sweat. Sunscreens can be water-resistant, meaning 80 percent of the SPF remains after 40 minutes in water, but most aren't. That's why the American Cancer Society recommends reapplying sunscreen every two hours. You'll need about 1.5 ounces of sunscreen'the amount of one shot glass'to adequately cover your entire body, but numerous studies show most people use less than half that amount.

Are Sunscreens Safe?

Nearly 85 percent of name-brand sunscreens offer "inadequate protection from the sun, or contain ingredients with significant safety concerns," according to a 2008 study of 1,103 sunscreens by the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a nonprofit environmental research organization based in Washington, D.C.

Leading brands such as Coppertone, Neutrogena and Banana Boat were the EWG's worst offenders. The watchdog group faulted sunscreen manufacturers for using ingredients with known health hazards, or ones that haven't been safety tested. The EWG recommends 143 products it considers safe and effective (see "Sunscreen Investigation, Skin Deep: Cosmtic Safety Reviews").

Still, sunscreen safety is difficult to sort out. Take the common chemical sun blocker oxybenzone, for example. The EWG advises consumers to avoid it because studies show it can disrupt hormones, cause allergic reactions and damage cells. "It's one of the most-absorbed sunscreen blockers, which wouldn't necessarily be a concern, but it has high toxicity issues," says EWG senior analyst Sonya Lunder. But the AAD has approved at least one product containing oxybenzone: Johnson & Johnson's Aveeno Sunblock Lotion with SPF 55.

"There has not been a documented case of anybody developing a cancer from using (sunscreens)," says Dr. Shawn Allen, a Boulder dermatologist who routinely treats skin cancers. He believes sunscreens' benefits far outweigh potential harms. But, he also acknowledges that "some of these chemicals can be carcinogenic in high doses," and says further research may reveal problems. One closely watched development is manufacturers' growing use of nanoparticles' ultrafine ingredients that may be absorbed into the body more easily, creating potential health and environmental concerns.

One way to bypass the safety controversy is to avoid sunscreens containing petrochemicals. Kabana Skin Care (kabanaskincare.com) of Lafayette makes an SPF 20 sunscreen that the EWG considers safe. It consists of only eight ingredients'zinc oxide, Eldorado Natural Spring Water, vegetable glycerin, emulsifying wax, vitamin E, organic extra-virgin olive oil, jojoba oil and shea butter. Other chemical-free sunscreens are available locally at Pharmaca, Whole Foods and Vitamin Cottage, but read labels carefully; many 'natural' sunscreens still contain questionable chemicals.

Kabana founder Erik Kreider cautions gardeners and other consumers to be careful about what they slather on before heading out into the sun. "Sunscreens are the modern-day snake oil in a lot of ways," he says. "The petrochemical industry isn't really concerned about whether you get skin cancer. Everybody's in tune with the need to eat natural, organic foods, and to drink clean water and breathe fresh air. Then they go slop Coppertone SPF 45 on themselves, which contains thousands to millions of times the nasty stuff that affects how their bodies work. It's a major disconnect to me."

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