As the weather gets warmer, it's a good idea to use sunscreen to keep harmful UV rays away from our skin — but as it turns out, we don't know exactly what that protection is costing us.
New research published in the Journal of the American Medical Association on Monday suggests that the active ingredients in sunscreen aren't just sitting atop the skin but being absorbed into the bloodstream. For most things applied topically, there is a small amount that's assumed to be absorbed into the body with no real harm done; but as the new study found, much higher levels of the substances in sunscreen are absorbed than previously thought. In some cases, it may be "as much as 40 times" as much, NBC News reported.
Because the chemicals in sunscreen haven't been tested for effects on the inside of the body, the Food and Drug Administration isn't quite sure whether absorbing them is harmful or not. That's why, following this research, we need to be "asking for additional data," said Theresa Michele, one of the study's authors. "Just because they are absorbed doesn't mean they are unsafe," but further testing will give us a clearer answer.
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Until then, it's probably a safe bet to keep using your sunscreen, which protects from UV poisoning as well as more dangerous conditions including "the epidemic of UV-related skin cancer," said Emily Newsom, a dermatologist at the University of California, Los Angeles. While we don't fully understand the risks yet, the benefits of using sunscreen are clear. Read more on this study at NBC News.
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