To have crippling guilt over chemical sunscreens

[nevertearusapart]

I read this morning that the baby suncream that we used daily on my children for years had Octocrylene as an ingredient up until recently. An increasing amount of studies are showing that this degrades into a carcinogenic chemical (benzophenone) over time.

So basically I have been rubbing a cancer causing substance onto my babies every day for almost a decade. I haven’t stopped crying since reading it and feel like I’m loosing my mind. Am usually on top of what they’re eating, using, wearing etc and cannot believe I was so stupid to just trust a ‘natural’ baby brand. And there is nothing I can do about it.

Would really appreciate a handhold as I’m properly struggling and spiralling. Thanks.

Sunscreen explained by a dermatologist | British Skin Foundation
This is the only mention of octocrylene on the british skin foundation website, I would urge you to have a read and be reassured that they haven't documented any concerns.

Thanks @RantyMcRanterton that’s reassuring and I know that information about all of these are evolving. That said, it looks like the handwash we’ve been using contains the same carcinogenic chemical (benzophenone) - I am totally freaking out

Bit of context for others...
A study suggests that octocrylene can break down to form a substance called benzophenone, which may lead to cancer. Benzophenone is one of a family of chemicals and it can be used to provide flavour or fragrance or to absorb sunlight in some consumer products.

From what I admittedly very quickly researched, this study was performed on rats and in test tubes, no evidence that this happens in humans has been found and octocrylene is listed as safe to use within sun lotions and cosmetic products.

Following the study the US Virgin islands banned sun lotions with octocrylene as an ingredient due to it being found that it can cause damage to the mitochondrial system of coral reefs and marine animals however it was noted that harmful concentrations only occurred when the product was applied shortly before entering water. the study found that the concentration was below harmful levels if sun lotions were fully absorbed before entering lakes, river or oceans.

• Study by Aaron Boyd, a PhD candidate at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

Tomorrow morning, please make an appointment to see your GP about your anxiety. This is disordered thinking. It’s not nice to be in the grip of it and you need professional help to get it under control.
All the best.

OP, there’s no evidence at all to suggest that any ingredients in sunscreen, hand wash or anything else you use on your body is harmful in the manner and concentrations in which they are used.

I suspect you may have a fairly significant issue with anxiety or OCD, yes? Your response seems very extreme.

Please make sure you are getting your information from credible sources. There's a lot of scaremongering, bullshit and lies on the internet

@HotCrossBunplease really, do you think that? Is it because you think the levels of chemicals involved are minute or because we live in a world where chemicals are unavoidable or that our bodies are good at filtering the effects? Would really appreciate understanding your perspective as a balance for my head! Thanks very much

@KreedKafer no history of anxiety or OCD ever, am very laid back. Looks like I might be totally off here though so thanks for posting as I wouldn’t have realised it.

What Sunscreen is it?

It is because if there was actual scientific evidence of a real risk of a baby product causing cancer, it would be front page news. You’ve read something that you are not equipped to assess properly and have put two and two together and made 10. You have been taken in by sensationalist journalism. And now you are in a spiral of beating yourself up instead of taking a step back and seeing things in perspective.

Am usually on top of what they’re eating, using, wearing etc and cannot believe I was so stupid to just trust a ‘natural’ baby brand.

I’m truly not quoting you to nitpick or be horrible, because I completely relate — but in light of what you said later about normally being very laid back, I just wanted to gently say that the above stood out to me. Those sound like the words of a parent who feels her responsibilities so very deeply that it turns into a bit of a potentially problematic control and monitoring issue.

It does not sound laid back.

Give yourself a little break op, truly you can’t expect yourself to be on top of all things.

I dont no anything about the suncream but Johnsons talc scandal wasnt front page news

Honestly, get help for your anxiety, and that's from the mum of a kid that does have a form of cancer.

Take a moment as well to think - you say you are very laid back, but also are 'usually on top of what they’re eating, using, wearing etc', which really doesn't sound laid back to me.

Anyway even if it does slightly increase the risk of some cancers, it also lowers the risk of skin cancer, so you win some, you lose some really.

If you are worried about this ingredient, try to avoid it in the future, but it's not worth another moment of your worry about what you've used in the past.

I work in a field where I am having to reassure people about similar concerns. There is a lot of absolute nonsense out there about the safety of many different products based on so called research and shock journalism. It causes a lot of anxiety for people. The reality is that product safety testing is rigorous and often highly regulated. We come into contact with thousands of chemicals daily… but they are in such trace amounts that they really are of no consequence.
Please try to put this from your mind. If your fears were not unfounded, this would be a national health emergency, given the amount of people who have used sunscreen on their children.

Every single thing in existence, including your own body, is composed entirely of chemicals. Water is made of chemicals. Oxygen is a chemical. Every single thing you’ve ever touched, eaten, worn or seen contains numerous chemicals.

It is not normal or rational to be scared of ‘chemicals’. Some chemicals are harmful in certain doses or to certain organisms. Some aren’t. Many things are toxic or carcinogenic in certain doses, but are completely harmless in the quantities in which we use or consume them.

For example, certain fruits contain cyanide. It is still perfectly safe to eat them. Brazil nuts contain a radioactive chemical. They’re fine to eat as well. Lots of perfectly healthy and natural foodstuffs which are great for humans are massively harmful to some other animals. Milk, for example (any milk - this would include human breast milk) is incredibly polluting if it gets into rivers and streams. It can wipe out practically every living thing in the water. But it’s perfectly fine for mammals to drink.

Many of the substances we need to survive would be toxic if you consumed enough of them - but you won’t ever consume enough of them. Zinc, iron and potassium are really important chemicals that we need to consume to be healthy. All three of them are dangerous if you consume an insane amount of them, though - which you would never have any reason to do because no product would ever contain enough to harm you.

Basically, just because you’ve read that a chemical can be harmful in certain contexts and to certain creatures in certain doses, that doesn’t mean it is harming you in the way you are exposed to it.

Your anxiety is extreme and fuelled by misinformation (much of that spread by so-called ‘natural’ or ‘clean’ brands making money out of scaring you). It isn’t rational or logical or based on any scientific fact, and it’s making you miserable. You do need to get yourself some help; you don’t deserve to be panicking and crying and guilt-ridden and rushing around in tears looking at the label of your handwash. That is a crappy way to live.

actually it was.
It had significant media coverage in the US where the lawsuits took place and was picked up comprehensively in the UK. It’s why people know about it, to talk about it.

This is an excellent post.

There is no such thing as chemical free.
Most are in traces smaller than those found in a glass of water.

I’m sorry, but you absolutely not ‘laid back’ if you are crying and ‘spiralling’ over an ingredient in sunscreen. You are hyper-anxious about ‘chemicals’ and you’ve just told yourself this is normal and rational and part of being ‘careful’. But it isn’t. It really, really isn’t.

You’d need to be drinking literal gallons of the stuff for it to cause you or your children cancer. You need to see a doctor for your anxiety.

Every single parent since the beginning of time gives their child something that turns out to be bad for them.

In recent generations, we have toys with lead based paint, thalidomide, ultra processed foods.

We do the best we can with the knowledge we have. And when we learn that something is unsafe, we stop using it. That's all we can possibly do.

Johnson’s talc is on sale in every UK supermarket. UK regulators would not allow it to be sold if there was compelling evidence it caused cancer in its current formulation.

If you have been applying sunscreen every day, that also shows that you might be quite an anxious person…( assuming you live in the UK which gets about 4 weeks of mild sun per year and we are all deficient in Vit D from lack of it.) A bit of sun isn’t bad for us, just saying.

As a melanoma patient I can assure you. You don't want my life for your kids.

I dont follow US news but i never ever saw it on the front page of a UK newspaper. If you saw it then it must have been short lived in the papers and on our news as i completely missed it. Iv only even heard of the scandal because i have a friend who is very big on being anti chemical/upf etc and she told me about it. From the limited info i have read, it seems like the scandal went on for years and years before johnsons actually took responsibility. Big multi state investigations against what must be one of the biggest pharma companies in the world dont just happen overnight.