5 ms·

What if skin cancer was actually caused by sun screen? Wouldn't that be ironic, don't ya think?

rangoon626 5y ago
Take that same thinking to other personal care and cleaning products, and start to go through your bathroom and kitchen. You’ll be surprised at what we’re being low-grade poisoned with each day.
mnd999 5y ago
Well that’s what this is saying, some sunscreens contain unacceptably high levels of carcinogens. It’s not a huge logical leap to go from there to some people getting skin cancer from the sunscreen. That doesn’t mean you aren’t also at risk of getting skin cancer from excess sun exposure.
- reader_x 5y ago
  My basic research suggests benzene exposure is not associated with skin cancer: “ Benzene works by causing cells not to work correctly. For example, it can cause bone marrow not to produce enough red blood cells, which can lead to anemia. Also, it can damage the immune system by changing blood levels of antibodies and causing the loss of white blood cells.” https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/benzene/basics/facts.asp https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/benzene/basics/facts.asp Anecdotally, my mother died of multiple myeloma, a cancer related to bone marrow and blood, which is often misheard as “melanoma” (but that’s a different cancer). Her oncologist told me her cancer was associated with benzene exposure, but until now I could not imagine how she might have been exposed.
- everdrive 5y ago
  It's sort of a shame when there are perfectly non-carcinogenic methods for avoiding the sun. Wear long-sleeves and and big hat.
swayvil 5y ago
It's a very neat way to make money. Other possibilities : A drug that promises to make you feel good that actually makes you feel bad. A vaccine that promises to cure you that actually makes you ill. An economic system that promises prosperity while creating poverty. Food that creates malnourishment. It's pretty obvious when you think about it. All you need is a bunch of cheap poison and a good marketing campaign.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
spfzero 5y ago
As ironic as obesity being caused by low-fat, high-carb diet recommendations?
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
not2b 5y ago
It might be caused by using the wrong sunscreen, but there are plenty of products that are safer. The Environmental Working Group has a good list: https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/ https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/
- istorical 5y ago
  Raw Elements is one of the main brands you'd pick if you use EWG as your sole resource in analyzing compositions, and Raw Elements is on this list of affected products. So EWG may not be enough.
BTCOG 5y ago
You can get throat cancer from simply drinking hot water daily for extended periods of time. In which case, water itself is the carcinogen with applied heat. Same with drinking way too hot of coffee for extended years. The dose makes the poison, and nearly everything (including water, a solvent itself) can become a carcinogen.
lotsofpulp 5y ago
No? There is nothing surprising about a cancer having more than 1 cause since more than 1 thing can cause damage to DNA.
- Judgmentality 5y ago
  The irony is people use sunscreen to avoid getting skin cancer, and OP is pointing out it may be causing it instead.
  - CydeWeys 5y ago
    ... quite possibly still not as much as if they hadn't used it, though. So maybe not that ironic.
    - pessimizer 5y ago
      Or quite possibly far more than if they hadn't used it, if we're just going to make things up.
      - CydeWeys 5y ago
        Yeah, the guy I was replying to was making stuff up. I'm making the point that sunscreen has a positive purpose, and you could potentially be doing a lot more harm than good if some trace benzene ends up in you frying to a crisp instead and getting melanoma. You need to do the risk analysis. Until you do, you can't possibly say it's ironic using sunscreen since it could easily be doing more good than harm.
  - Scoundreller 5y ago
    That’s why you need to look at all-cause mortality. Trying really hard to prevent one cancer may create enough other issues to outweigh your efforts. The benzene and sunblock ingredients aren’t just absorbing into the skin, but into the whole body. The evidence is good that they prevent skin cancer, but… The evidence on sunblock improving all-cause mortality isn’t clear. Here’s one study that didn’t find a mortality difference between daily and discretionary sunblock use: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30885518/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30885518/

Take that same thinking to other personal care and cleaning products, and start to go through your bathroom and kitchen. You’ll be surprised at what we’re being low-grade poisoned with each day.

mnd999 5y ago

Well that’s what this is saying, some sunscreens contain unacceptably high levels of carcinogens. It’s not a huge logical leap to go from there to some people getting skin cancer from the sunscreen. That doesn’t mean you aren’t also at risk of getting skin cancer from excess sun exposure.

reader_x 5y ago
My basic research suggests benzene exposure is not associated with skin cancer: “ Benzene works by causing cells not to work correctly. For example, it can cause bone marrow not to produce enough red blood cells, which can lead to anemia. Also, it can damage the immune system by changing blood levels of antibodies and causing the loss of white blood cells.” https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/benzene/basics/facts.asp https://emergency.cdc.gov/agent/benzene/basics/facts.asp Anecdotally, my mother died of multiple myeloma, a cancer related to bone marrow and blood, which is often misheard as “melanoma” (but that’s a different cancer). Her oncologist told me her cancer was associated with benzene exposure, but until now I could not imagine how she might have been exposed.
everdrive 5y ago
It's sort of a shame when there are perfectly non-carcinogenic methods for avoiding the sun. Wear long-sleeves and and big hat.

swayvil 5y ago

It's a very neat way to make money. Other possibilities : A drug that promises to make you feel good that actually makes you feel bad. A vaccine that promises to cure you that actually makes you ill. An economic system that promises prosperity while creating poverty. Food that creates malnourishment. It's pretty obvious when you think about it. All you need is a bunch of cheap poison and a good marketing campaign.

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

spfzero 5y ago

As ironic as obesity being caused by low-fat, high-carb diet recommendations?

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

not2b 5y ago

It might be caused by using the wrong sunscreen, but there are plenty of products that are safer. The Environmental Working Group has a good list: https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/ https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/

istorical 5y ago
Raw Elements is one of the main brands you'd pick if you use EWG as your sole resource in analyzing compositions, and Raw Elements is on this list of affected products. So EWG may not be enough.

BTCOG 5y ago

You can get throat cancer from simply drinking hot water daily for extended periods of time. In which case, water itself is the carcinogen with applied heat. Same with drinking way too hot of coffee for extended years. The dose makes the poison, and nearly everything (including water, a solvent itself) can become a carcinogen.

lotsofpulp 5y ago

No? There is nothing surprising about a cancer having more than 1 cause since more than 1 thing can cause damage to DNA.

Judgmentality 5y ago
The irony is people use sunscreen to avoid getting skin cancer, and OP is pointing out it may be causing it instead.
- CydeWeys 5y ago
  ... quite possibly still not as much as if they hadn't used it, though. So maybe not that ironic.
  - pessimizer 5y ago
    Or quite possibly far more than if they hadn't used it, if we're just going to make things up.
    - CydeWeys 5y ago
      Yeah, the guy I was replying to was making stuff up. I'm making the point that sunscreen has a positive purpose, and you could potentially be doing a lot more harm than good if some trace benzene ends up in you frying to a crisp instead and getting melanoma. You need to do the risk analysis. Until you do, you can't possibly say it's ironic using sunscreen since it could easily be doing more good than harm.
- Scoundreller 5y ago
  That’s why you need to look at all-cause mortality. Trying really hard to prevent one cancer may create enough other issues to outweigh your efforts. The benzene and sunblock ingredients aren’t just absorbing into the skin, but into the whole body. The evidence is good that they prevent skin cancer, but… The evidence on sunblock improving all-cause mortality isn’t clear. Here’s one study that didn’t find a mortality difference between daily and discretionary sunblock use: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30885518/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30885518/