New online trend to say it's better not to wear sunscreen

[Mummabear04]

Has anyone else come across this? People claiming sunscreen is carcinogenic and that you shoud never use it. These people are not even putting it on their kids?! Am I the only one who thinks this is absolute madness?

That is more due to particular religious groups that totally cover up and tend to have darker skin which needs more sun to get enough vitamin D anyway.

Normal sun in the UK gives plenty of vitamin D in the summer even with sunscreen in hot weather. We mostly need supplements in the winter because there isn't enough sun and we tend to cover up more, but by all means take supplements all the time if you think you need to if using sunscreen.

My maternal grandparents both died of skin cancer and neither left the country in their lifetimes. The didn’t really even leave Lancashire much. Both had indoor jobs - a dental mechanic and a mill worker.

I’ve inherited my maternal grandmother’s skin and I get my Vit D dose up to 10am then on goes the F50 if I’m spending time outside. I had some serious sunburns when I was a kid in the late 70s and early 80s when the highest you could get was F15 - not taking any more chances.

YANBU. It's all part of the big online shift towards alt right / conspiracy theory / big wellness / anti-expert / trad wife insanity that has been happening for the last few years.

Wow. I have not seen that.

Yeah, those people are just dangerous.

this debate has been going on for decades
It's better to use sunscreen and take a vit D supplement than risk skin cancer/burning/aging

The carcinogenic argument has also been going for at least 15/20 years and having worked in a sun screen related job bAck then I've never seen any convincing/real scientific evidence so I keep slapping on the Soltan, along with all.of my family

I prefer to avoid the sun than use sunscreen. I never sunbathe, I tend to wear loose, long clothes to cover up, sit in the shade, avoid the hotest part of the day, etc.. I buy a bottle every year and on the very rare occasion being sunned on all day is unavoidable I use it. My DD14 takes the same approach. Even as a little kid she'd rather cover up or avoid the sun than put up with lotion. She's never had sunburn and I've maybe been burned 3 times in my life and on two of those occasions I was wearing sunscreen. The third I got trapped somewhere I was unable to get to shade or to sunscreen. It is plenty possible not to use it and not to burn.

ETA I don't think suncream causes cancer. The texture is an issue, it's gloopy and slimy. We are a ND household though so texture is a big issue over here!

I see it a lot, I had skin cancer so algorithm gives me a lot of skin related content and the amount of people I see saying they won’t use spf or cover up is depressing.

ive had skin cancer, which involved an extensive face reconstruction, wear spf.

I think there’s a middle ground here. Use sun cream, but seek out a brand that has fewer toxic ingredients. The free Yuka app is good for this.

My mum thought this 25 years ago. I am a pale redhead and spent a lot of my childhood covered in blisters all over my back and shoulders from being burnt (grew up in NZ).

I am now terrified the sun damage will turn into cancer.

It is appallingly negligent not to at least protect from the sun if not using sunscreen.

There were UV levels of 9 in the midlands yesterday, anything above eight is a high risk of harm from UV rays.

Took me about 2 mins to find

I would personally rather have vitamin D deficiency than be disfigured or dead from skin cancer. There are very few things that are not essentially "bad" for you as in they are absorbed by your skin and processed in the body, but I'd be bloody sick with myself if it was my fault I or my kids got a preventable cancer. (although covering up is also completely fine but not possible everywhere like hands and can be too hot in the summer)

It's not an online "trend" stop scaremongering, this isn't GB news for goodness sake!
It's the ingredients, they cross the blood brain barrier. I can't remember but I think it was titanium oxide. There are many, many safe sunscreens with safer ingredients available.

Why would it be a ‘mad health belief’ to notice the long list of chemical ingredients in sun screen and consider that might not be an ideal thing to put on a child’s skin? It makes complete sense to me. As other pps have said, I put spf swimwear and rash vests on the children when on a hot beach/pool, puts hats on them and keep them out of direct sun in the hottest parts of the day. Where this isn’t do-able, eg school sports day I’ll use the last toxic sun cream I can find. Seems common sense to me

Then take a supplement? I’m deficient because I seek the shade as I burn so I take a supplement and now I’m not deficient

and yes some people DO need it, if I didn’t wear spf I would burn within 10 minutes

Sure
but some people have to use whatever spf they can afford so the fear over spf isn’t helpful as people will see it, think they’re causing their children skin cancer and stop using it
the amount I use I buy Aldi SPF as I go through so much of it

YANBU OP.
The people who are really vocal about not using sunscreen IME aren't the ones who are taking other sensible precautions like covering up. There's a whole subset of people in the online parenting groups I'm part of who live in places like Texas and Oklahoma, where the sun is blisteringly strong, and say they don't use sunscreen, but instead they avoid seed oils in their diet 🙄
I tend to put sunscreen on the kids if we're going to be out in weather like this, but otherwise I tend to do a mix of thinking the vit D will do them good, and covering up with light clothing. We also have South Asian heritage (though the kids are only 1/4) - I suppose I might be more conscientious if we were all pale redheads!

I don't agree with no sunscreen ever but we do have an absolute obsession with sunscreen in this country. Spf is in everything. Then we wonder why kids are vitamin d deficient. I don't put sunscreen on DD or myself the second we go in the sun. We have at least 10-15 minutes of direct sunlight before considering it.

I'm also not adverse to not using it at all if we're in the shade for the majority of the day or covered up. It does go on if we're out in the sun for prolonged periods i.e outdoor swimming, days out walking outside with little shade. DD has never been sunburnt in her life so it works for us. The parental and nursery need to put sunscreen on before children even see the sun drives me mad!

Just another batshit anti-vax/ anti-science trend.

Stupid shit like this is why measles in the US, having been all but eliminated is now back and killing people.

I've got to say, the obsession over here for sunscreen is a bit much for me (I grew up in a hot country).

Every even slightly sunny or warm day at nursery and reception it is lathered on my kids.

Fair enough , parents would read teachers the riot act if little Johnny came home burnt.

But I know plenty of people who do the same at home, as soon as the sun emerges even a little.

Their kids surely have a Vit D deficiency?

My kids are mixed race so need more exposure to the sun for their Vit D and I make sure they get some time without sun screen.

I don't wear it much in the UK, but stick to the shade, don't sunbathe, wear hats etc.
I try to get 15 mins of sunlight each day for my Vit D.

Obviously nobody wants melanoma, but I think you need some sun.

Staying out of the sun in the shade (not with light reflection from surfaces)
or being indoors work better than sunscreen imho.

Sunscreen doesn't interfere with Vitamin D production.

‘Stay out of the midday sun’ advice makes me wince. I’m olive skinned and recently got burnt from being outside after 3:30pm.

Yes evening UV is lower. But 3pm isn’t a magical UV cut off time like some people think it is.

I take a balanced approach. Suncream if we have to be out in the brightest part of the day /out all day etc.

Try and avoid midday heat /wear long sleeves and sun hat etc.

@summersun25Can a chemical supplement really replace actual sun exposure?

Perhaps, but I'm cynical.

We can measure the amount of Vit D in our blood, but I'm sure there's plenty of other things happening in our body when the skin is exposed to sun Naturally. Mood enhancement, off the top of my head. At least for me!