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Heather Rogers, MD, is the founder and CEO of Doctor Rogers Restore and co-founder of Modern Dermatology in Seattle. She says mineral and chemical sunscreens work differently to protect the skin from UV rays. Mineral sunscreens, like zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, sit on top of the skin and block rays like reflectors. On the other hand, chemical sunscreens—oxybenzone, octinoxate, octisalate, and avobenzone—are absorbed into the skin. They absorb UV rays and convert them into heat, which is then released from the skin.
While Rogers says chemical sunscreens provide good UVA and UVB protection and are better than not using anything, they can be absorbed into the body. “We can measure them in our blood and urine,” she says. “Even though they are well-studied, labeled by the FDA as nontoxic, do not cause cancer (despite some reports out there), and have not been shown to cause hormone disruption in humans, they do accumulate in us. I would like to minimize the accumulation of any unneeded chemicals in my body, my patients’ bodies, and in our world whenever possible. Further, avobenzone is a common cause of sunscreen allergy, and oxybenzone is contributing to the death of coral reefs.”
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