The Safest Sunscreens for Kids

Click to see the updated 2011 results of the Safest Sunscreens for Kids.

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As you know, we live near the beach and we spend a lot of time outdoors year round. Sunscreen is a part of daily routine like I’m sure it is for many of you. So, it was with some real disgust and concern that I recently checked out the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) 2010 Sunscreen Guide. (Thanks, Lesli, for sharing this news a couple weeks ago.) After testing 500 beach and sport sunscreens, the EWG recommends only 39 – or 8% of the sunscreens!

EWG’s fourth annual Sunscreen Guide gives low marks to the current crop of sunscreen products, with a few notable exceptions. EWG researchers recommend only 39 – 8 percent – of 500 beach and sport sunscreens for this season.
The reason? A surge in exaggerated SPF claims above 50 and new disclosures about potentially hazardous ingredients, in particular recently developed government data linking the common sunscreen ingredient vitamin A to accelerated development of skin tumors and lesions.

Key Points in the EWG Report

• People do not apply enough sunscreen to get the advertised SPF protection and typically only use one quarter of the recommended amount.
• Products with a high SPF give a false sense of security and people do not reapply sunscreen as often and high SPF does not protect from UVA rays.
• The FDA is investigating whether a form of vitamin A, called retinyl palmitate, actually accelerates skin damage and increases the risk of skin cancer. This is found in 41% of sunscreens!
• EWG does not endorse products with oxybenzone, a hormone-disrupting compound in about 60% of sunscreen products because it enters the bloodstream.

EWG’s Best – Recommended Sunscreens

The recommendations are divided into two categories – Mineral and non-Mineral. Here are a few child-specific brands recommended by the EWG, all of which include minerals such as zinc or titanium.

• California Baby - Sunblock Stick No Fragrance, SPF 30+Sunscreen Lotion No Fragrance, SPF 30+, Sunscreen Lotion Everyday/Year-Round, SPF 30+, Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 30+, Citronella, Sunblock Stick Everyday/Year-Round, SPF 30+
• Earth’s Best – Sunblock Mineral Based SPF 30+(by Jason Natural Cosmetics)
• Caribbean Solutions Kid Kare SPF 25
• thinkbaby - Sunscreen SPF 30+
• UV Natural Baby Sunscreen SPF30+

Find Your Sunscreen

The EWG evaluated over 1000 sunscreen products, including lip balms and moisturizers, and gave them a score from 0 (recommended) to 10 (avoid). You can search for your current sunscreen to see how it fared. I was pretty appalled that one brand of children’s sunscreen scored a 7 (avoid) and one of the adult sunscreens we used scored an 8! Not good.

Reliable Protection

The EWG “warn consumers not to depend on any sunscreen for primary protection from the sun’s harmful ultraviolet rays. Hats, clothing and shade are still the most reliable sun protection.” Here are some of our favorite ways to protect wee ones from the sun:

• UB2 Bonnet
• Kokopax Savannah Sun Hat
• Protect-a-Bub Stroller Sunshade
• Baby Banz One Piece Swimsuit

So, how did your current sunscreen score? What products do you use to protect your children from the sun?