Recently, weve seen the same sort of problematic rhetoric start to take hold around sun protection.
On TikTok, the anti-sunscreen brigade is going strong, with influencers spreading misinformation and preying on fears.
While in a perfect world, social media would be absent of such misinformation, thats not reality.
What can be is equipping yourself with knowledge to protect yourself and scroll safely.
But as any dermatologistincluding Dr. Zubritskywill tell you, this is categorically false.
I see, diagnose, and treat skin cancersincluding deadly melanomason a daily basis, says Dr. Zubritsky.
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As a dermatologist, I am increasingly frustrated and saddened by these conspiracy theories.
That number jumps up to 90 percent when talking about nonmelanoma skin cancers, which are more common.
Theyre not seeing the ramifications of not wearing sunscreen.
When people who arent qualified say that sunscreen is causing cancer…theyre causing more harm.
And someone still commented, Some sunscreens are bad for you as well.
Be careful what you use.Sadly, this isnt the only tidbit of misinformation on the internet.
There are a few of these conspiracy theories in the zeitgeistso lets unpack them with three board-certified dermatologists.
Chemical SPF causes cancer
SPFthe main ingredient in sunscreenpreventscancer.
For starters, theres the widespread villification of chemicals.
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Importantly, though, this contaminant is just that: a contaminant.
It was not, and is not, meant to be in sunscreens, says Dr. Zubritsky.
And, oh yeah: The contaminated sunscreens weretaken off the marketas soon as the benzene was discovered.
Direct sunlight is good for your skin.
Allow us to be unequivocal: There isno amount of direct sunlightthat is good for your skin.
She adds that there are multiple reasons whysunscreen doesnt lead to a vitamin D deficiency.
Second, sunscreen is not 100 percent protective against UV rays.
Put simply, our skin is still able to absorb vitamin D when wearing sunscreen.
4. you’re able to get sufficient sun protection from your diet.
This is probably the trickiest SPF conspiracy theory because italmostmakes sense.
Its true that there arefoods that boost your internal SPF5, like tomatoes, sweet potatoes, and spinach.
Whats untrue, however, is that they provide enough sun protection in and of themselves.
None of these things are going to be efficient enough to replace sunscreen, emphasizes Dr. Turegano.
We dont have standardized numbers on this, so we cant make recommendations on eating a certain amount.
Even if there were, though, it wouldnt be enough.
If you ever have any questions regarding SPF, speak to your dermatologist, recommends Dr. Zubritsky.
We spend [so much time] training; understanding and reading medical literature and studies.
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