Sunscreen

If you care about the sunscreen safety for you and your family, make sure it does not contain potentially harmful chemicals, such as oxybenzone or vitamin A.

The Environmental Working Group (EWG) has recently released the 2010 Sunscreen Guide that evaluates over 1,400 sunscreens, lip balms and moisturizers to pick up the best and the safest for your health. Here is the top-rated sunscreens that offer UVA and UVB protection and contain fewer harmful ingredients.

Environmental Working Group that is well-known for scrutinizing various products for its environmental and health safety and effectiveness, has released this year guide to sunscreen products.

According to EWG report only one in five out of 600 sunscreens were considered safe enough to use for sun protection. The best EWG sunscreens contain fewer harmful ingredients and provide broad-spectrum protection.

It is important to protect your skin from harmful UVA and UVB rays from an early age. Help your kids make a habit of wearing a hat and protecting clothes, avoid sun in the middle of the day and use safe sunscreen.

If you want to use safest sunscreens for your children that do not contain hormone-disrupting ingredients or other chemicals, check if the sunscreen does not contain oxybenzone or vitamin A and it does not come in the form of a spray or powder.

Here are the best picks from the EWG highest-rated sunscreens for babies and children.

We all know how important it is to use the sunscreen to prevent the sun exposure and protect our skin from UV rays. However, specialists of the Environmental Working Group (EWG) warn that many sunscreens contain harmful ingredients that can have long-term unwanted effect on our health.
1. Oxybenzone

Oxybenzone or benzophenone-3 is widely used in suncreens and can be found in small quantities in our body.

Usually sunscreens work for about 2-3 years, though you need to check the expiration date on a sunscreen bottle.

However, many experts note that if you use sunscreen correctly, applying sunscreen generously on exposed body parts and reapplying it every two hours, there is a little chance that you will have any leftovers next year.

Also note that heat and incorrect storage can make your sunscreen break down faster.

If taking a bunch of sunscreen bottles does not sound appealing to you, but you still cannot imagine your day without sunscreen, you can try something new that does not take much time in your beach bag.

The SmartShield Towelettes are actually handy sunscreen that provides SPF30 protection against UVA and UVB rays. As a sunscreen it offers protection against UV radiation and should be reapplied every 3-4 hours.

Apotek Hjärtat a pharmacy in Sweden has released a skincare line of sunscreens for eco-conscious children and adults. The sunscreen products that include lotions, spray and balms come with useful information about the ingredients, waste reduction techniques, energy and resource use and eco-concept of the brand.

The sunscreens and after-sun products were designed to reduce environmental damage as much as possible and to make your skin care choice more sustainable.

For most of us, who want to protect ourselves from skin cancer and premature ageing, FDA finally changes the sunscreen labeling to help customers make a better decision about sunscreen use.

First of all FDA bans the terms that can be inaccurate, such as "sunblock", "waterproof" and "sweat proof". Now the sunscreen manufacturers can only use the words "water-resistant" and specify how long it works and when it should be reapplied, after 40 or 80 minutes in the water.