Nearly half of the most popular sunscreen products sold in the United States fail to meet basic sun safety guidelines, new research shows.
The finding stems from a look at the sun protection labels of 65 products that accounted for the top 1 percent of all sunscreens sold by Amazon.com. Forty percent of those sunscreens lacked the minimal resistance to water and sweat that the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD) recommends.
While the top sunscreens cost just over $3 per ounce, on average, that figure shot up to $24 per ounce for some products and dropped as low as 68 cents for others, even though they offered comparable sunscreen protection, the study authors said.
Takeaway:
USE SUNSREEN.
Additional factors that consumers should consider include fragrance-free sunscreens, to minimize chemical irritants and allergic reactions; tinted screens that offer a better (less ghostly) overall appearance; and screens that come blended with titanium and/or zinc, for enhanced UV protection.
