Does Sunscreen mess up Hormones?

Question

Some argue sunscreen is a hormone disruptor and can affect how estrogen and other hormones act in the body by blocking them or mimicking them, which throws off the body's hormonal balance. Today, Europe and Canada have 27 different sunscreen chemicals on the market, while there are only 17 in the U.S. And the last chemical to be approved was back in 1999.

Answer 1

The claim attached to the article, "Is Sunscreen Really Safe," is false and misleading as well. Based on the article I can see where the claim could have been founded from, although the article does not support sunscreen to be messing up your hormones as the claim states. Towards the beginning of the article it talks about how sunscreen is a hormone disruptor and this can effect how hormones act in ones body, therefore throwing off the body's hormonal balance. And although this is true, it is misleading to the claim. Due to the fact that article states, "Dr. Slagel points out that sunscreen is used in such low doses that the risk of hormone disruption is low." This proves that although it is a disruptor of hormones because the doses is so low there is not a risk of your hormones being messed up because of this. My idea is also backed up form the fact that the article then goes on to talking about how hormonal tests on sunscreen have only been done on lab mice, where as their biological makeup is not similar to humans. After additional research many of the ingredients found in sunscreen are not traced back to complications with your body or hormones in general. This proves that the results are not evident to how sunscreen would affect a human bodies hormones. Therefore going back to the idea that this claim is misleading and likely misinformation.

https://www.aad.org/public/everyday-care/sun-protection/shade-clothing-sunscreen/is-sunscreen-safe

https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC7648445/

Comments

This is a well-rounded fact-check as it provides a thorough answer provided with sources that delves into the answer and is an extension.

Answer 2

Although this has potential, when reading the article further, it reads “However, Dr. Slagel points out that sunscreen is used in such low doses that the risk of hormone distribution is low‘‘ so you could use the argument that this is a possible reaction but with how little a person realistically uses, its not a big danger.

Comments

I like the way that you looked through the article to find out if there was any other information useful for the claim. Although i was wondering if you found any other sources that back up this claim?

Answer 3

The claim that sunscreen disrupts hormones is largely exaggerated. From the source, according to dermatologist Dr. G. Anthony Slagel, while some have suggested that the chemicals in sunscreen might mimic or block hormones like estrogen, leading to hormonal imbalances, these concerns are based on studies involving lab mice, not humans. Dr. Slagel emphasizes that the dose of sunscreen used is so small that the risk of significant hormone disruption is minimal. Furthermore, no studies have conclusively linked sunscreen use to cancer in humans. While it's true that certain sunscreen ingredients can cause allergic reactions in sensitive individuals, the overall safety of sunscreen, particularly in the doses humans typically use, remains supported by experts. Therefore, the claim that sunscreen significantly affects hormones is not supported by current evidence.