Be careful when it comes to alarmists

It’s summer!
In Portland (and Oregon) we are in a heat wave. (It’s been much longer than the average heat waves. And we are at about 10 degrees warmer than normal. When you don’t have air conditioning that can be uncomfortable and downright miserable at times.)
In the townhouse community Curt and I live in there is a pool. I spend some of my free time at the pool. I love hanging out at the pool and working on my tan.
Yup, I love having a nice tan. But I do it smartly. I drink lots of water and I keep my skin protected with sunscreen. I wear sun glasses and a hat.
One of my favorite sunscreen brands is Neutrogena. I also buy Coppertone and Banana Boat.
I have heard from numerous people that their dermatologists recommend Neutrogena-brand products. (I did a Review Wednesday last year on Neutrogena sun screen.)
I use a body spray, a stick for my face and ears and lip balm with SPF.
A friend recently posted an article on Facebook titled, Neutrogena is the number one sunscreen to avoid, says EWG.
This conflicts with what experts have told many people I know.
I found another article asking, Is sunscreen really toxic? And what I read there, the simple answer is no.
I had never heard of EWG (Environmental Working Group). So I decided to do some research on this organization and research on sunscreen in general.
Here’s what I found.

• An article on Forbes, states that EWG was the leader of the whole “cell phones cause cancer” scare. The EWG has also brought on the supposed danger of pesticides on produce. The pesticide alarmism was debunked by an independent, peer-reviewed study by researchers at the University of California Davis.
  
•  Cancer Research UK says, sunscreens can be useful for protecting our skin from the sun’s rays. … The sun protection factor or SPF tells you the amount of protection the sunscreen gives against UVB radiation. … National guidelines recommend you use at least SPF 15 (the higher the better).
  
• The Chemists Corner says EWG has an online ingredient resource database. … It is full of misleading information and many things that are just wrong.
  
• EWG lists many sunscreens that should be avoided. Yet if you go to their Amazon affiliate store you can find sunscreens they say not to use available in their store to purchase.
  
• From the article, Is sunscreen toxic? (Spoiler alert: The science doesn’t stick with the theories/arguments below.)
  
  • One argument against sunscreen revolves around the zinc and titanium dioxide nanoparticles entering into the body and crossing into the bloodstream, where they then release“skin-damaging free radicals.”
    
  • Other theories posit that sunscreen stops us from getting enough vitamin D.
    
  • Another says that putting sunscreen on actually increases the chance of getting skin cancer.
    
    

The article that posted about EWG’s list of the worst sunscreens says, but remember, any sunscreen is better than no sunscreen right before they share the list. Huh? What’s that about? Conflicting information?
Here’s the thing. We can’t believe everything we read. I do my best with my research and try to find multiple resources to back something I am stating. You need to do research as well. I know we can’t possibly read everything on everything.
But hey, if you want to know something, ask me. I’ll research it for you and post about it for all of us to learn a little something.