Uploaded June 2025 | Updated September 2026, 3 hours ago
My message here is not to not use mineral sunscreen. If that’s what you like, you should keep wearing it. Sun protection with sunscreen hinges on you actually wearing enough, regularly, and that hinges on if you actually enjoy using the product. Everything has an environmental impact, that’s just what it is. And the impact your sunscreen has compared to other things in your daily life - like driving a car - probably a drop in the bucket, especially when you think about the benefits, e.g. with skin cancer prevention. But this notion that mineral sunscreen = environmentally superior. We don’t know that, so please stop saying it.
🏷️🏷️🏷️
National Academies of Science. (2022). Environmental impact of currently marketed sunscreens and the potential human impacts of changes in sunscreen usage.
Kołodziejczak-Radzimska, A., & Jesionowski, T. (2014). Zinc oxide—from synthesis to application: a review. Materials, 7(4), 2833-2881.
Pawlowski, S., Buchholz, V., & Kusenbach, B. (2020). EcoSun Pass®: A tool to evaluate the ecofriendliness of UV filters used in sunscreen products. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 42(6), 582–592.
Pawlowski, S., Escher, S. E., Buchholz, V., & Kusenbach, B. (2023). Cosmetic UV filters in the environment: State of the art in EU regulations and environmental safety assessment. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 45(2), 193–203.
Dyer S, Green N. (2021). Use of eco-epidemiology to assess the potential risks of UV filters to corals. Presented to the National Academy of Sciences Sunscreen Committee Virtual. Sep 16, 2021.
Hughes, T. P., Anderson, K. D., Connolly, S. R., Heron, S. F., Kerry, J. T., Lough, J.,Baird, A., Baum, J., Berumen, B., & Wilson, S. K. (2018). Spatial and temporal patterns of mass bleaching of corals in the Anthropocene. Science, 359(6371), 80-83.
Mitchelmore, C. L., Burns, E. E., Conway, A., Heyes, A., & Davies, I. A. (2021). A critical review of organic ultraviolet filter exposure, hazard, and risk to corals. Environmental toxicology and chemistry, 40(4), 967-988.
#sunscreen #reefsafe #mineralsunscreen #beautyscience #cosmeticscience
My message here is not to not use mineral sunscreen. If that’s what you like, you should keep wearing it. Sun protection with sunscreen hinges on you actually wearing enough, regularly, and that hinges on if you actually enjoy using the product. Everything has an environmental impact, that’s just what it is. And the impact your sunscreen has compared to other things in your daily life - like driving a car - probably a drop in the bucket, especially when you think about the benefits, e.g. with skin cancer prevention. But this notion that mineral sunscreen = environmentally superior. We don’t know that, so please stop saying it.
🏷️🏷️🏷️
National Academies of Science. (2022). Environmental impact of currently marketed sunscreens and the potential human impacts of changes in sunscreen usage.
Kołodziejczak-Radzimska, A., & Jesionowski, T. (2014). Zinc oxide—from synthesis to application: a review. Materials, 7(4), 2833-2881.
Pawlowski, S., Buchholz, V., & Kusenbach, B. (2020). EcoSun Pass®: A tool to evaluate the ecofriendliness of UV filters used in sunscreen products. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 42(6), 582–592.
Pawlowski, S., Escher, S. E., Buchholz, V., & Kusenbach, B. (2023). Cosmetic UV filters in the environment: State of the art in EU regulations and environmental safety assessment. International Journal of Cosmetic Science, 45(2), 193–203.
Dyer S, Green N. (2021). Use of eco-epidemiology to assess the potential risks of UV filters to corals. Presented to the National Academy of Sciences Sunscreen Committee Virtual. Sep 16, 2021.
Hughes, T. P., Anderson, K. D., Connolly, S. R., Heron, S. F., Kerry, J. T., Lough, J.,Baird, A., Baum, J., Berumen, B., & Wilson, S. K. (2018). Spatial and temporal patterns of mass bleaching of corals in the Anthropocene. Science, 359(6371), 80-83.
Mitchelmore, C. L., Burns, E. E., Conway, A., Heyes, A., & Davies, I. A. (2021). A critical review of organic ultraviolet filter exposure, hazard, and risk to corals. Environmental toxicology and chemistry, 40(4), 967-988.
#sunscreen #reefsafe #mineralsunscreen #beautyscience #cosmeticscience
