Sunscreen Vs Sunblock ?!

It seems like every time I turn around there is some household product causing illness, safety or pollution issues.

We've made some changes to our family lifestyle in light of "research" and "new developments" that seem to bombard the headlines. We clean with next to no chemicals (- I am totally in L-O-V-E with multi-purpose cloths that only require water!), we no longer microwave anything plastic, we use reusable bags when shopping, we wash in cold water, run the dishwasher at night, we have a membership to Melaleuca.com from which we buy bath products for our girls and everyday items like dishwasher soap and laundry detergent, we received "patch" kits for both our drop side Storkcraft crib AND our Little Tykes push car... blah, blah, blah... how can a busy Mom of 3 possibly keep up?!

There was a small discussion happening on my Facebook page today about sunscreen. My 3 girls are super fair so it takes very little sun exposure to irritate their skin. I am VERY vigilant about applying sunscreen EVERY time they are outside (unless of course we're just headed to and from the van - everyone has a limit!)... funny how times change. When I was young NO ONE cared about the effects of the sun and a "tanned" body was envied. Today it's another story entirely.

Apparently there is a distinct difference between "sunscreen" and "sunblock" - I was schooled today (thanks to my FB friends ;) )... am I the only ignorant Mama out there? Sunscreen uses harmful chemicals to "protect" your skin... anyone see irony is this?! Sunblock uses "physical blockers" - and I'm not talking about a tree physically blocking the sun! ;)

The Environmental Research Group is the activist group claiming that while many sunscreens, "help stop sunburn, they might be doing more harm than good. For one, they do not block out ultraviolet light. Secondly, the ... use of Vitamin A in these products may actually speed up the exposure to those UV rays and increase chances of cancer."

BUT, there are a number of doctors refuting these findings too... "I think I would take this one with a grain of salt, says Dermatologist Brett Shulman. At this point, there does not seem to be a large number of scientific studies that actually confirm what this group is asserting. If anything, most of the studies are really to the contrary."

And so, here's another one left in the hands of Moms... I'm choosing to be better safe than sorry. It's pretty simple to switch sun protection and I guess this is one of those cases where you get what you pay for.

Some product suggestions made by my FB friends... (thanks ladies!)

• Neutrogena Pure & Free
• California Baby - I use their sensitive lotion and it's great!
• Badger
• Blue Lizard

I am NOT advocating any of these products - every Mom should do their own research.

Quotes taken from http://www.13wham.com/news/local/story/Could-Sunscreen-Cause-Cancer/ivfxv3yPJES51Zou6occpg.cspx

Sun image from www.kidsforsavingearth.org/solar_power.htm