Sunscreen / SPF Prevents Skin Cancer- Fact or Fiction?

Over the years, there have been so many warnings to the public about the risks of exposing skin to the sun without using the protection of sunscreen, and every year it seems as though the "SPF" number that is considered to be "SAFE" gets higher and higher.  I've run across several articles recently, which put an entirely different spin on this whole concept.  These articles contain some interesting new research, some of which  I'd like to bring to light for our readers.

In 2004, Bernard Ackerman, MD,(deceased 2008) who was a dermatologist and one of the world's most respected authorities on the subject of sun exposure and the risk of developing skin cancer, published a research article in which he frankly stated: 1) There is no conclusive proof that exposure to the sun causes melanoma; 2) There is no real proof that wearing sunscreen prevents against developing melanoma.

Additionally,Elizabeth Plourde, PhD, a scientist who wrote the book Sunscreens – Biohazard: Treat as Hazardous Waste, provides extensive documentation to support her theory that sunscreens actually pose life-threatening dangers to the environment as well as to people. She demonstrates how sunscreens caused significant increases in malignant melanoma in people who used them over a 30-year time frame. Dr. Plourde further notes that sunscreens are made up of chemicals that are well-known carcinogens as well as endocrine disruptors. The chemicals from sunscreen use by humans markedly pollute our oceans, rivers, lakes and reservoirs, and these endocrine-disrupting chemicals have also been shown to kill "coral, and other sea populations."

Given what I've read from what's been published recently- perhaps most popularly by Dr. Oz- I feel it's best to use only botanically-based, organic skin care products -sunscreens that do not contain chemicals, and to limit exposure of my skin to the sun to 20 minute intervals. This allows my skin temperature to cool down between exposures and has radically decreased my actual number of sunburns over the last several years. I find it intriguing that one of our own LAUDUN Family was very fond of using her grandmother's botanical, organic moisturizing skin creme to prevent sunburn, before she would venture out into the Caribbean sun.  (:

So, chemically-based sunscreens, with SPF- Fact or Fiction? The choice is yours.

LOVE Yourself, LOVE Your SKIN!

-Nancy 

Source: Realfarmacy.com- "Scientists Blow the Lid on Cancer & Sunscreen Myth"