Harmful chemicals found in suntan lotion!

I just found out from a friend today about a severe reaction her son (16 months old) just had to suntan lotion. She was using a very common suntan lotion called Banana Boat baby. After putting some suntan lotion on one of her twins he began to break out with a rash. The rash soon turned into blisters. Her and her husband are both paramedics so they were both treating the little boy but it was so bad they were to the point of taking him to the hospital. They immediately called their doctor who told them to give the baby some benedryl. They were finally able to get rid of the blisters without hurting him anymore but not without forever changing their opinion on suntan lotion. They were told he had an allergic reaction to the suntan lotion both externally as well as internally since the chemicals used in the lotion was absorbed through the skin. They were then told how harmful the chemicals were in suntan lotion.
So this brought on an interest to me. So I began reading about the harmful ingredients in suntan lotion since I also use popular products. WOW!!!! That is the best word I can say about what they put into suntan lotion! I have been putting this on my babies for 6 years and it is horrible!!!!!!
Here is a few things I have found.
This was too long to post and it was all good information so I figured I would just post the website: http://www.skinbiology.com/toxicsunscreens.html

Some other information I have found:


For 29 years, the FDA has refused to publish safety standards for sunscreen products. That's nearly three decades of keeping the public in the dark about the extremely harmful, cancer-causing chemicals found in sunscreen products. Any idea why the Food and Drug Administration has taken so long to set safety standards for a product used by over 100 million Americans? If you guessed, "Because the greedy corporations selling the toxic sunscreen products don't want the FDA to study the safety of their products," give yourself golden star sticker. You got it! The FDA has no interest in protecting the public from cancer-causing personal care products, and that simple fact is made abundantly clear by the FDA's 29-year delay to establish basic safety guidelines.

As is increasingly the case, non-profit groups are now doing the job the FDA should be doing but refuses to do. In this case, the Environmental Working Group (www.EWG.org), one of my top recommended non-profit organizations, has compiled a list of 700 name-brand sunscreens along with the toxic chemicals they contain. You'll find the list at http://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/

As the EWG reports, many sunscreen products contain cancer-causing chemicals that get absorbed right through the skin:

Some sunscreens absorb into the blood and raise safety concerns. Our review of the technical literature shows that some sunscreen ingredients absorb into the blood, and some are linked to toxic effects. Some release skin-damaging free radicals in sunlight, some act like estrogen and could disrupt hormone systems, several are strongly linked to allergic reactions, and still others may build up in the body or the environment. FDA has not established rigorous safety standards for sunscreen ingredients.

After 29 years of debate, the government has failed to set mandatory sunscreen safety standards. Companies are free to make their own decisions on everything from advertising claims to product quality. In lieu of setting final standards, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advises people to stay out of the sun from 10 am to 4 pm. FDA now stands in direct violation a Congressional mandate requiring the agency to finalize sunscreen safety standards by May 2006, flouting not only Congress but also consumers, who are reliant on sunscreen to protect their health.


84% of sunscreen products harm consumers