Fun with sun(block)

I grew up in Florida and have heard all my life that sunscreen is a must unless you want to end up riddled with cancer and looking like Magda.

Things that make you go, "hmmm." I had no idea, however, that the sunscreens we've been sporting for protection from skin cancer are actually filled with carcinogens themselves. What? Yes, for real. Did you know that your standard sunscreens most likely have chemicals that can impact the regulation of the reproductive, nervous, thyroid and immune systems, particularly if exposures occur during pregnancy or childhood?

**Gulp**

I've spent the last day researching and reading all about the options. Aerosol sunscreens, while uber convenient for squirmy little toddlers and mommies at the pool without a partner to lather up their back, are so not good for you. Inhaling the compounds and chemicals that are only intended for external use could have a bevy of yet-unknown side effects. There are lots of healthy and more natural alternatives, but the problem for most people is that they don't appear on the shelves at Target, and they don't come in an aerosol can.

Today I returned my recently purchased $18 tube of California Baby back to the shelves of Target. The company recently changed some of their formula/ingredients in their products, basically lied about it for a few months, and now are trying to make it a non-issue to the consumers. I don't feel comfortable slathering up my babes with this stuff anymore.

Instead I logged onto SafeMama and purchased the Purple Prairie Botanical sunscreen (purchased from Good Things Green Things which was cheaper than Amazon). While it still may not be perfect (the only perfect sunblock is a hat/longsleeves/pants and sunscreen is still unregulated by the FDA), it is a comfortable alternative for our little family.

From the SafeMama website:

The sunscreen ingredient we mainly avoid is the synthetic chemical oxybenzone. Oxybenzone is an endocrine disruptor which can affect the nervous system, has been linked to cancer in some laboratory studies, and creates free-radicals when exposed to the sun which are harmful. There have been some studies done that could classify Titanium Dioxide as carcinogenic to humans.  They are preliminary studies but the evidence so far is showing that rats exposed to an inhalation of the powdered form of Titanium Dioxide developed respiratory tract cancer.