Even though summer is winding down in the Northern Hemisphere and school has started or is right around the corner, don’t put your sunscreen away just yet. You still need it to protect against skin cancer and premature aging.
Despite the clear benefits of sunscreen, questions about sunscreen safety — and even its necessity — have been debated for years. These doubts have been fueled in part by a growing number of social media influencers, as well as the 2021 discovery of the carcinogen benzene in a handful of since-recalled sunscreens. (The chemical, not an ingredient in sunscreen, appeared to be linked to the aerosol propellant.) Additionally, the US Food and Drug Administration moved to have manufacturers do more safety research on a dozen common sunscreen ingredients.
Sometimes it is hard to separate fact from fiction and figure out what is worth worrying about (or not).
The link between sun exposure and skin cancer is …