Free Republic

Socialist icon Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) raised eyebrows recently by saying politicians must free the sunscreen industry - from the clutches of the government. In a TikTok video posted last week, the New York congresswoman joined esthetician Charlotte Palermino on camera to make the case that government regulations have hindered the industry. **SNIP** Grace Fors, writing at Socialist Alternative, takes AOC to task for saying the sunscreen industry should be deregulated. Interestingly, Fors doesn’t even bother with the pretense that the FDA is “protecting people” from harmful products; she’s concerned that AOC is helping profiteers in the $110 billion-a-year skin...

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez has made it known before that she's a beauty girlie through and through (in addition, of course, to being a progressive political leader). And on Monday while traveling in Asia, the congresswoman took to Instagram Stories to speak on a subject of which plenty American skin-care obsessives are all too aware: Sun protection is absolutely crucial, and the United States lags painfully behind other countries in terms of access to modern sunscreen ingredients. Once again, for the cheap seats in the back: Daily sunscreen is a skin-care essential (for everyone, regardless of skin tone!) that protects against cancer,...

Florida cities and counties wouldn't be able to ban sunscreens containing ingredients that some researchers say harm coral reefs, under a bill passed by the state Senate on Wednesday. The Senate voted 25-14 in favor of the bill after no discussion or debate. If it becomes law, a Key West ordinance to ban the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone or octinoxate would be nullified. The Key West ban is set to go into effect next year. Research has shown the chemicals can cause coral bleaching, and the reefs around Key West attract divers, snorkelers and fishing enthusiasts. But Republican Sen....

TALLAHASSEE — In light of Key West banning the sale of sunscreens that contain chemicals believed to harm coral reefs, Florida lawmakers are fast-tracking proposals that would undo the local regulation. Sen. Rob Bradley, R-Fleming Island, said Monday that Key West is sending “mixed signals” to people about the importance of sunscreen and that his bill is meant to send a clear message to the “country and the world” that the use of sunscreen is encouraged in the Sunshine State. “Unfortunately, with all of the wonderful things that come with our beaches and our sunshine, we also rank second in...

Hawaii just became the first state to ban certain sunscreens as a measure to protect the state's essential coral reefs. Hawaii Gov. David Ige signed a bill on Tuesday, July 3, banning the sale of sunscreens containing two chemicals, oxybenzone and octinoxate, believed to harm coral reefs and other marine ecosystems. State lawmakers passed the legislation in early May. Senate Bill 2571 prohibits the sale and distribution of non-prescribed sunscreens on the islands that contain oxybenzone or octinoxate, which can be deadly for coral larvae. The ban will not be applied to medically prescribed sunscreens or makeup that contain oxybenzone...

Hawaii is set to become the first state to ban the sale of sunscreens containing chemicals believed to be harmful to the environment. State lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday that prohibits the sale and distribution of over-the-counter sunscreens containing oxybenzone or octinoxate, two chemicals that have been found to "cause genetic damage to coral and other marine organisms." "These chemicals have also been shown to degrade corals' resiliency and ability to adjust to climate change factors and inhibit recruitment of new corals," the bill reads. The contamination is "constantly refreshed and renewed everyday" by swimmers and beachgoers, according to the...

Those looking for alternative ways to protect their eyes from Monday’s solar eclipse are now seeking medical treatment after putting sunblock on their eyeballs. Nurse practitioner Trish Patterson tells KRCR-TV in Redding, California that she hasn’t seen any cases of damage by looking directly at the sun but she and her colleagues have seen a few patients who experienced pain after putting sunblock in their eyes.

Many people are getting the message loud and clear. That sunscreen helps protect you against skin cancer. But some experts say all that sunscreen is creating another problem. “That is the major cause for the vitamin D epidemic worldwide,” says Dr. Michael F. Holick, an endocrinologist at the BU School of Medicine. “Sunscreen absorbs ultraviolet light and ultraviolet light makes vitamin D in your skin, and if you put a sunscreen on with an SPF of 30 and it absorbs about 97-98% of the UV light, it will reduce the ability to make vitamin D in your skin by 97-98%,”...

You’re in the market for a new sunscreen. You want one that works, so you do your homework — or try to. If you Google “best sunscreen,” the first link that appears is an Environmental Working Group list of products that meet its safety criteria. Look further and you’ll see natural-health gurus proclaiming that many sunscreens are full of toxic ingredients like oxybenzone and retinyl palmitate, which could mess with your hormones or actually increase the risk of skin cancer. They advise sticking to mineral options with titanium dioxide or zinc oxide as the active ingredient. Yet others say even...

Without any objection, the Senate has passed a bill forcing the FDA to speed up the approval process for sunscreen technology, HAPPI reports.Sunscreen technology has stagnated in the United States since the 1990s, not because companies have failed to innovate, but because the Food and Drug Administration has been sitting on proposals submitted 12 years ago without even reviewing them.The proposals include new sunscreen ingredients, and since the FDA has dropped the ball, the Senate has picked it up with the passage of the Sunscreen Innovation Act on Wednesday night.Rates of melanoma have skyrocketed in the last 40 years, giving...

A classical definition of “public health” describes it as the art and science of preventing disease, prolonging life, and promoting physical and mental health, sanitation, personal hygiene, control of infection, and organization of health services. The practice of public health derives from dim antiquity, at least with respect to sanitation and personal hygiene, which was often done for religious purposes. The Greeks—including Hippocrates—in the 4th and 5th centuries BC, are considered the first to have applied logic and right reason to the causation of disease. The Middle Ages would see various plagues, and an organized response to control further outbreaks....

According to a June 2014 article featured in The Independent (UK), a major study conducted by researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden found that women who avoid sunbathing during the summer are twice as likely to die as those who sunbathe every day. The epidemiological study followed 30,000 women for over 20 years and “showed that mortality was about double in women who avoided sun exposure compared to the highest exposure group.” Researchers concluded that the conventional dogma, which advises avoiding the sun at all costs and slathering on sunscreen to minimize sun exposure, is doing more harm than...

They are leading a groundbreaking three-year research project into whether human engineered nanoparticles, such as those found in sunscreen, can induce neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.'Indeed they lodge in almost all parts of the brain and there are no efficient clearance mechanisms to remove them once there.' There were also suggestions that nanoscale particles arising from urban pollution had reached the brains of animals and children living in Mexico City, he said. 'It has recently been discovered

Reed, Dodd call for stronger sunscreen standardsMay 26, 2009 PROVIDENCE, R.I.—Two New England senators are pushing for stronger testing and labeling standards for sunscreen. U.S. Sens. Jack Reed, a Rhode Island Democrat, and Chris Dodd, a Democrat from Connecticut, have introduced legislation that calls on the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to require manufacturers to test sunscreen products against ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B rays. Currently, officials say the FDA requires testing and labeling for sun protection factors, which mostly measures UVB rays that cause sunburns. But they add the FDA does not have standards for UVA rays, a major...

Team officials admit rules were too stringent and are now allowing sunblock to be brought into New York's Yankee Stadium. The change came after fans howled when they were forced to dump their sunscreen at the gate if it was in containers holding more than three ounces. The Yankees said the prohibition was necessary to prevent possible terrorists from concealing liquid explosives that could be brought into the stadium, The New York Post reported Wednesday. The Yankees' management will do whatever it takes to maximize profit under the guise of security, retired police officer Chester Hicks said to the newspaper....

Ladies and gentlemen, The Bronx is sunburning. Yankee fans are seeing - and turning - red over a ban on sunscreen, which Stadium security guards say was widely expanded in the last few weeks. Security guards collected garbage bags full of sunblock at the entrances to Yankee Stadium over the sweltering weekend, when temps hit 96 degrees and the UV index reached a skin-scorching 9 out of 10 - a move team officials said was to protect the Stadium from terrorism. But fans baking in the bleachers and upper deck argued that the sun may be a bigger threat than...

A new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC) reveals that 97% of Americans are contaminated with a widely-used sunscreen ingredient called oxybenzone that has been linked to allergies, hormone disruption, and cell damage. A companion study published just one day earlier revealed that this chemical is linked to low birth weight in baby girls whose mothers are exposed during pregnancy. Oxybenzone is also a penetration enhancer, a chemical that helps other chemicals penetrate the skin. Environmental Working Group identified nearly 600 sunscreens sold in the U.S. that contain oxybenzone, including products by Hawaiian Tropic, Coppertone, and Banana...

WASHINGTON - A sunscreen that blocks the type of ultraviolet radiation linked to some cancers, and which has been available only outside the United States, received federal approval Monday. Called Anthelios SX, the sunscreen contains ecamsule, an ingredient better at blocking ultraviolet A, or UVA, radiation than other sunscreen ingredients currently sold in the United States. Those ingredients mainly screen out UVB rays. UVB has long been associated with sunburn, while UVA is recognized as a deeper penetrating radiation, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Doctors suspect there is a link between UVA exposure and longer-term effects, including wrinkles,...

Sunscreen chemicals disrupt thyroid in rats Chemicals found in many sunscreens can disrupt the production of thyroid hormone in rats, researchers report. Their study raises concerns that chemicals that absorb ultraviolet light could damage the thyroid in people. The thyroid gland is located in the neck and secretes hormones that affect growth and metabolism. UV light from the Sun can potentially cause skin cancer. But studies on the chemicals that block UV have already raised concerns over side effects. In 2001 Swiss researchers reported that 4-methyl-benzylidene camphor (4-MBC), among other sunscreen chemicals, mimicks the reproductive hormone oestrogen and accelerates the...

MEXORYL is not the most notorious drug on the black market. Only a few insiders, most of them women, even know its worth, let alone where to buy it. But it is one of the most ordinary substances ever to be bootlegged. Mexoryl SX, made by the Paris-based skin-care giant L'Oréal, is an illegal sunscreen in this country, one that is thought to be particularly useful in preventing wrinkles. Called by dermatologists one of the most effective filters of all wavelengths of ultraviolet light, Mexoryl has been used in sunscreen lotions sold in Canada and Europe for more than a...