The Dangers of DIY Sunscreen

Knowing that dermatologists highly discourage people from making DIY sunscreen, many people continue making their own. The DIY-ers claim that store bought sunscreen contains harsh chemicals that can alter your hormones. Sounds bogus, but they actually have a point. As a matter of fact, there are some sunscreens on the market known as ‘endocrine disruptors’. This means that the ingredients can mess with hormones, inhibiting them from functioning properly. Most commonly, the hormones that are affected are testosterone, estrogen, progesterone, and thyroid. This can lead to various health issues such as early puberty and young girls developing much younger than normal. In addition, endocrine disrupts can cause low sperm counts, infertility, and cancer. Store bought sunscreen is less and less appealing by the minute.

Now that you know the difference between DIY sunscreen and store-bought, what’s the best option? Well, the good news is that we know which ingredients are the most harmful. When stocking up for your next beach day look out for oxybenzone, octinoxate, homosalate, octisalate, and octocrylene. These are the chemicals that aren’t going to do you any favors. But, there are companies that make mineral sunscreens which seem to be a good middle ground. Mineral sunscreen is free of toxic chemicals and is fragrance-free. Also, mineral sunscreen’s main ingredient is either zinc oxide or titanium oxide. Plus, you can trust that the formula of a store bought mineral sunscreen is safe and effective.