We can’t use normal sun cream?! Feel like everything is ‘bad’ for you now!

[whenimetyouinthesummer]

It feels like in the last few years we’ve gone from realising the (obvious) dangers of things like smoking to now, every tiny little thing is ‘bad for you’. We used to have a wood burning stove and had it removed because I saw (on here) about the links to cancer, particularly in children. Stopped using normal deodorant and switched to natural stuff because I read it wasn’t good for you, which really you can’t imagine spraying an aerosol on your skin daily is going to be that great for you. Found it doesn’t really work though and if I’m going to the gym I will end up going back to my old one.

Last week I read an article claiming sun cream is causing skin cancer and not the sun. Dismissed it really but tonight I’ve read an article that’s popped up about mineral sun creams, creating a physical natural barrier to UV rays rather than using chemicals in sun cream to block the rays. It says you should be using these instead of chemical sun creams (all the normal popular ones). Again, makes sense but there doesn’t seem to be all that much research into them yet. What if they don’t actually block the harmful rays? It feels like every single thing is going to end up being labelled as harmful, when all you’re trying to do is protect you/your kids as best you can 🤦🏻‍♀️ Do you go along with these things or think they’re nonsense?

Who cares? We're all full of unavoidable micro plastics which cause who knows what damage to our organs.

There is badger, pricey but good. And Jack n Jill also do a mineral suncream. Not sure if it is factor 50. Currently sold out in UK but I think stocks expected soon. Mineral sun screams are more expensive.

I'd definitely have to see some very robust research before I'll believe wood burners cause cancer.

It's fairly well known that wood burners are carcinogenic.

The issue is that for some people they're the only option.

YES! I can’t find a long sleeve/legs one anywhere! And if I can they are all blue, which is known to be dangerous in the water. Any tips appreciated!
I personally cannot believe fake tan hasn’t been shown to be carcinogenic yet. That shit doesn’t seem right…

https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412023004014?via%3Dihub

Why? I mean I'm too lazy to go digging through the literature, but it doesn't seem so crazy to me that burning something in the living room and putting smoke in the air isn't going to be so great for the auld lungs.

My understanding is that if they are run properly the risk is less but that most people don't actually run them properly.

I just got some with long sleeves and I think 3/4 legs for my DC in Next, better than nothing. We're only going to center parcs though so I sadly didn't need to pay attention to the sun protection aspect!

Decathlon are good for affordable rash vests - for adults and kids.

Maybe you need to look at research from credible findings rather than random 'articles'. Getting sunburnt even once is risky. Wear whatever suncream you want.

Do you really not have the brain capacity to see that burning something in your house is bad. Madness anyone does it unless the only option.

Quite! Sometimes the evidence is limited as the research simply hasn’t been done. Which is so often the approach to product roll-out – ‘there’s no evidence it causes any issues so go ahead and use it’

Good example is fillers. For several decades people were told that fillers are metabolised by the body and quickly disappear from the tissues in a matter if months. This was pure guesswork – ultrasound (and surgery) now shows that filler is still present in the tissues 10 or 20 years later. (Sometimes causing awful long-term issues).

Why?, because if if someone says something I find incredulous I want to see the evidence and lots of it.
If WBs cause lung cancer (especially in children) then why isn't there a spike in that disease in countries where WBs are prevalent?

Suntribe https://suntribesunscreen.com/

Do you have a link to the article? I've long suspected sun cream may be at least part of the problem and have been skeptical about just how much we need to use it - all the research has been funded by the industry and, surprise, surprise we need to use it 24/7 and reapply multiple times a day.

I'm careful not to burn, but much prefer to stay in the shade and cover up, although many people here would tell me that's inadequate protection.

As for everything is bad for you, I think we have to go with all things in moderation. So, in the sunscreen example, use it when needed to avoid burning, but not when you can stay out of the mid day sun or cover up instead.

No idea about lung cancer but here is a jumping off point with googlable details included:

https://amp.theguardian.com/environment/2024/mar/22/how-one-german-village-exemplifies-the-cancer-risk-from-wood-burning

Definitely all things in moderation OP (apart from obvious things like class A drugs) otherwise you'll drive yourself insane.

I've been skeptical of sunscreen and wearing a hat, covering up and limiting exposure instead for years.

I have really pale skin and some of the worst sun damage (solar keratosis patches) I have is from times when I missed a patch of sunscreen or it wore off and I had a false sense of security from wearing sunscreen.

Only mad dogs and Englishmen hang out in the mid day sun!

Why?, because if someone says something I find incredulous I want to see the evidence and lots of it.

It's hardly incredulous to suggest that burning wood in an enclosed area is bad for your lungs.

If WBs cause lung cancer (especially in children) then why isn't there a spike in that disease in countries where WBs are prevalent?

Using wood burners may increase the risk of cancer, but that doesn't mean that a huge majority of people who use wood burners get cancer - it could just mean that the risk of lung cancer without using a wood burner is (say) 5% but using a wood burner increases it to 8%.

It's like when they say having a lot of moles increases your risk of melanoma - that's true - but it doesn't mean that most people who have lots of moles end up with melanoma - just that the risk is a bit higher than it would be otherwise.

The risk is more commonly gastric/windpipe cancers in poorer countries in women who use smoky fuels like biomass (wood or dried brush) to cook inside. It’s specific to women mostly because they do the cooking.

To be honest I’m incredulous that someone can think that a burner that produces PM 2.5 particle emissions is safe to sit in front of. The emissions are a fact, they’re readily measured. PM 2.5 is linked to various serious health conditions and premature death, a fact readily acknowledged on most national state environmental protection websites.

You wouldn’t stick your kid in front of a car tail pipe would you? So why stick them in front of a wood burner? It’s the same particulate matter 🤦‍♀️

Have you ever watched 'hidden killers' by Suzannah Lipscomb? It goes through the decades from Tudor right up until 1980's of things in the household that back then were deemed safe but actually turned out to be bloody poisonous or dangerous! We will have things like that, albeit, sunscreen, computers, phones, vapes etc which will eventually be discovered in the future to bring hazardous. They even say mobile phones cause cancer because of the waves they create.

@SpringerFall 🤣🤣
OP weigh out the risks. I'll be putting on my SPF 50 in Spain this summer for sure and so will my kids (well my son may go for 30 as wants a bit of a tan). My sister is a doctor (not a specialist in whatever field it is - dermatology?) and uses sunscreen daily.

Why not class A drugs? I'm currently taking a class A drug in moderation as prescribed by my doctor.

The blue suit is another one though.

If you cannot find any other colour uv protection suit, is a blue one not better than none at all?

I am quite sure that you are a sensible parent and will be closely monitoring your child around water. So their risk of getting sunburnt is a lot higher than not being able to be seen in the water.

I think you just have to be sensible, making natural choices when possible but at the same time weighing up the risks.
So I choose a pure greek yoghurt over a Muller light because the latter is full of crap. But I choose 'proper' sunscreen, fully tested in labs because the risk of skin cancer isn't worth it to me.