What Makes Badger Sunscreen Safe According to the EWG?

For the fourth year in a row, Badger Sunscreens received the highest safety ratings from the Environmental Working Group (EWG). Not bad considering the company has only been making sunscreens since 2006. For the folks at Badger, getting the EWG's seal of approval for a safe sunscreen is significant.

"Our government has not set strong standards and regulations to protect people from potentially harmful sunscreen ingredients as well as false claims, such as inflated SPF ratings," says Rebecca R Hamilton, Director of Product Development at W.S. Badger. "The EWG has done the research for us and has helped to give people the tools to make educated choices about the products that they use"

Why does the EWG rate how safe sunscreens are?

The EWG began rating how safe sunscreens were in 2007 in response to FDA's "failure to issue regulations for sunscreens." Without regulations, sunscreen makers are not legally required to back up advertising claims on their products. Some concerns the EWG has for sunscreens on the market include questionable ingredients and inflated claims of high SPF ratings (50+.)

What are the questionable ingredients and inflated claims in sunscreens?

This year, the EWG found 41% of sunscreens tested contained a form Vitamin A called retinyl palmitate, which they claim may accelerate skin damage and increase skin cancer risk. Another questionable ingredient is oxybenzone, a synthetic estrogen that penetrates the skin and may disrupt hormones. The EWG also claims SPF ratings above 50 give users a false sense of security to stay in the sun longer and risk getting sunburned. Although high SPF sunscreens may prevent burns, the EWG says they still allow exposure to UVA radiation which can damage skin and increase skin cancer risk.

What makes Badger a safe sunscreen?

The EWG found the top rated safe sunscreens all contained the minerals zinc or titanium. Badger uses zinc oxide in their sunscreens. Badger also avoids using oxybenzone, retinyl palmitate as well as one other surprising ingredient: water "By eliminating water from our product we eliminated the need for {chemically derived} preservatives, emulsifiers, and stabilizers," says Hamilton. So it's a combination of these things that earned Badger Sunscreens the EWG's highest safety rating.

Tips for choosing a safe sunscreen

The EWG recommends choosing sunscreens with active ingredients like zinc or titanium and avoiding sunscreens with oxybenzone and SPF ratings over 50. However, the best and safest sunscreen according to the EWG is to simple wear a hat and shirt.

Sources:Report: Only 8 Percent of Sunscreens Recommended, EWG Press Release May 24, 2010

Top Sun Safety Tips, EWG

Few Sunscreens win Green Rating, EWG May 24, 2010

Email correspondence with Rebecca R Hamilton, Director of Product Development at W.S. Badger. July 2 and 6, 2010

Kate Schweitzer Can Your Sunscreens Cause You Skin Cancer? MSN.com Health and Fitness 2010