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Titanium dioxide, a compound whose toxicity remains unclear, is an ingredient found in many sunscreens. Researchers now say the chemical can be absorbed by human skin. Titanium dioxide is a fine, white powder, used in sunscreens because of its ability to reflect and scatter ultraviolet light. The compound's full effects on human health are still under investigation. The U.S. government's National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) labels the chemical "a potential occupational carcinogen."

The main chemical used in sun lotions to filter out ultraviolet light may be TOXIC, particularly when exposed to sunshine.

Octyl methoxycinnamate (OMC), which is present in 90 per cent of sunscreen brands, was found to kill mouse cells even at low doses in a study by Norwegian scientists.

It is not certain that the effects on mice are repeated in human beings, although the findings reported in New Scientist magazine suggest that human cells could be damaged if a sunscreen containing OMC penetrates the outer layer of dead skin and comes into contact with living tissue.

Terje Christensen, a biophysicist from the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority, near Oslo, said her research showed that sunscreens should be treated with caution, and used only when it was impractical to stay indoors or to shield the skin from the sun with clothes.

The chemical is used as a filter for the more harmful UVB light. In Dr Christensen's study, mouse tissue grown in culture was treated with a solution of OMC at five parts per million - a much lower concentration than in sunscreens. Half the cells treated with OMC died, compared with fewer than 10 per cent in a control experiment.

When researchers shone a lamp for two hours to simulate midday sunshine, more cells died. Dr Christensen suggested that the reaction between OMC and sunlight created an effect that was twice as toxic as the chemical alone.

The Cosmetic Toiletry and Perfumery Association, which represents sunscreen manufacturers in Britain, said that OMC "has been thoroughly tested for safety" and was approved by regulatory authorities in Europe and the US.
 

Octyl Methoxycinnamate (OMC), used as a UVB filter in 90% of sun lotions, may harm human skin cells, say researchers at the Norwegian Radiation Protection Authority (NRPA; Osteras). BASF’s new 4,500-m.t./year OMC plant at Ludwigshaven, Germany is due onstream early in 2001. “OMC has been thoroughly tested, but company toxicology experts are evaluating the Norwegian study,” says BASF.

The concern over OMC follows publication of a study last year which found that 2-phenylbenzimidazole-5-sulfonic acid (PBSA), a UV filter used in about 25% of sun lotions, may also damage human skin cells (Chemical Week, Jan 13, 1999, p.15). No studies show the effects from combining the two chemicals. BASF also manufactures PBSA.“

It is a theoretical possibility that human cells could be damaged by OMC,” says NRPA biophysicist Terje Christensen. NPRA researchers found that about 50% of cells died when exposed to a very low concentration of OMC. The toxic effect may also be magnified by exposure to sunlight, the researchers say. More cells died when light was shone on the cells in the OMC solution. “The problem is that some of the products formed when OMC is broken down by exposure to the sun are more toxic than the original substance,” says Christensen. OMC could harm human cells if it penetrates the outer layer of dead skin, he says.

 
Dr. Mercola's Comment:

We ALL need sunshine to stay healthy. It is one of the essential ingredients for staying healthy. It is not the perniciously evil item that traditional medicine suggests that it is.

That does not mean that we should all go out and get sunburned. That should be avoided as it is likely to lead to an increase in skin cancer. However, prudent exposure to the sun, integrating the listening to your body concept, will not.

Adding sun screens is NOT a good way to limit your sun exposure. Staying out of the sun early on in the season and limiting your exposure until your system adjusts by increasing melanin pigmentation in your skin is.

Additionally, consuming many whole vegetables will increase antioxidant levels in the body which will also provide protection against any sun induced radiation damage.

So the bottom line is to avoid the sun screens. They are not necessary and will actually increase your risk of disease.

"Estrogenic sunscreen chemicals might explain most  of the social changes in California over the past 30 years."
A California customer

Toxic Estrogenic Chemical Sunscreens

Even worse for your health is the fact that many common free radical generating sunscreen chemicals also have estrogen like-effects. Such effects can increase cancers, cause birth defects in children, lower sperm counts and penis size in men, plus a plethora of other medical problems. These effects are similar to many banned chemicals such as DDT, Dioxin, PCBs.
Estrogenic chemicals can mimic hormonal (or real) estrogen, the key female sex hormone. When the body's hormone receptors recognize the estrogenic chemical as estrogen, the result is feminization of the tissue.

Some of these effects may be more subtle than physical abnormalities and may manifest themselves as behavioral changes (Fox et al. 1978), such as aberrant behavior of birds during nesting, which can have significant effects on their nesting success.

Government regulations require that new chemicals pass screening tests to determine that they do not cause cancer. But no rules yet require similar testing of chemicals for effects on reproductive hormones.


Common Estrogenic Toxins

DDT (Dichloro, diphenyl, trichloroethane)
Insecticide, especially for mosquitoes

Dioxin (2,3,7,8-tetrachlorodibenzo-p-dioxin and similar chemicals)
Chemical by-product during manufacturing of insecticides and plastics

PCBs (Polychlorinated Biphenyls)
Insulating oil for electrical transformers

2,4-D
Broadleaf weed killer

Diethylstilbestrol (DES)
A potent synthetic estrogen

Chemical Sunscreens
Blocking ultraviolet rays on human skin

Expected Effects of Estrogenic Chemicals in Humans

In Women:
 
Endometriosis
Migrane
Severe PMS
Erratic Periods
Increased Breast and Uterine Cancer
Fibrocystic breast disease
Uterine cysts

In Men:

Lowered Sperm Counts
Sexual Indentity Confusion - Feminization
Breast Enlargement
Smaller then normal penis size
More testicular cancer
Undescended testicles
Block or reduce fetal imprinting of male behavior pattern in brain


Discovery of Gender-Bending Estrogenic Chemicals in the Environment

In the 1950s, the effect of estrogenic toxins such as DDT was linked to eggshell thinning in many bird species. Chemicals with estrogen-like actions can also cause severe developmental problems such as turning fish into hermaphrodites. Over the past 50 years, studies on estrogenic toxins have greatly expanded our knowledge of these effect - some of which is detailed below.

Many hormone affecting chemicals remain in widespread use. 2,4-D, and similar products, are largest-selling broadleaf herbicides in North America and some 60 million pounds of such chemicals are applied annually in the USA alone. Three widely used pesticides are estrogenic: dieldrin, toxaphene, and endosulfan. While dieldrin and toxaphene have been banned, endosulfan remains the USA's most heavily used pesticide.

Not all environmental gender-benders are estrogenic. Benomyl, a fungicide used on crops such as rice, tomatoes, apples, and grapes, has toxic actions on the testes where it causes the premature release of cells that would have become sperm.

Also, the greatest increases in human cancers over the last 30 years have been those of the breast, ovaries, testes, and prostate, all tissues that are sensitive to sex hormones.
 

Many Common Sunscreen Chemicals are Strong Estrogens

Margaret Schlumpf and her colleagues (Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology, University of Zurich, Switzerland) have found that many widely-used sunscreen chemicals mimic the effects of estrogen and trigger developmental abnormalities in rats. (Schlumpf , Margaret; Beata Cotton, Marianne Conscience, Vreni Haller, Beate Steinmann, Walter Lichtensteiger. In vitro and in vivo estrogenicity of UV screens. Environmental Health Perspectives Vol. 109 (March 2001) pp 239-244)

Her group tested six common chemicals that are used in sunscreens, lipsticks and facial cosmetics. Five of the six tested chemicals (benzophenone-3, homosalate, 4-methyl-benzylidene camphor (4-MBC), octyl-methoxycinnamate and octyl-dimethyl-PABA) behaved like strong estrogen in lab tests and caused cancer cells to grow more rapidly.


Uterine growth and endometriosis

One very common sunscreen chemical, 4-MBC, was mixed with olive oil and applied to rat skin. This caused a doubling of the rate of uterine growth well before puberty. "That was scary, because we used concentrations that are in the range allowed in sunscreens," said Schlumpf. Three of the six caused developmental abnormalities in animals. The major cause of sterility in women in the USA is endometriosis, a condition afflicting 5.5% of American women. Exposure to excessive estrogen, that may have come from such sunscreens, is felt to be the primary cause of endometriosis.


Breast milk

Schlumpf's group also found estrogenic sunscreens in the breast milk of mothers at levels of nanograms per kilogram of fat. This is the about same level as other known environmental contaminants such as PCBs. Schlumpf commented that this exposure could be dramatically increased in childhood by the large amount of sunscreen used by bathers, especially children. Her group is following the offspring of 4-MBC exposed rats to see if they develop health problems.

Based on these results, the Swiss researchers concluded that the impact of sunscreens containing these "endocrine disruptors" should be investigated more closely, in particular their penetration through human skin.


Estrogenic Synergies May Multiply Toxic Effects

Combinations of estrogenic sunscreens and other pollutants may act together to intensify their effects. Researchers at Tulane University in New Orleans believe that a mixture of estrogenic toxins -- such as sunscreens, PCBs, DDT, etc., are more harmful if mixed together. The Tulane researchers found one mixture of estrogenic toxins to be 160 to 1600 times more toxic than the individual chemicals in the mixture.

Gender-Bending Effects are Most Severe During Early Development

Current evidence points to early development (embryo, fetus, juvenile) as the time when children's organs are the most sensitive to estrogen exposure and developmental abnormalities. However, some effects may not become apparent until later in life, when normal sexual maturity is expected.

The basic human form is female. Early in fetal development, the genes must signal if a fetus is to be male. The secretion of male hormones is the signal that activates genes that cause male development. If this does not happen, the human has female imprinting - regardless of whether the person's cells have male (XY) or female genes (XX). If a mother has been exposed to a natural estrogen or estrogenic toxin during the crucial period when genes normally activate masculine patterns, the seventh and 14th weeks of pregnancy, then there is not the proper switching from female to male. If the estrogenic toxins only appear sporadically (such as when the mother uses an estrogenic sunscreen, the disruptions may not trigger a complete reversal of a male's gender, but may exert subtle physical (such a reduced penis size) and mental changes (such as sex role confusion) that become apparent later in life. Conversely, if a synthetic compound blocks estrogen actions, this can produce the sex organs of a male in a fetus that is genetically female.

After using chemical sunscreens, a pregnant woman mother may unwittingly pass some hormone-mimicking pollutants to her child before birth through her placental blood supply and via her breast milk with which she later feeds her newborn.

Some currently used pesticides have been found to interfere with male development, producing undescended testes, nipples on males, hypospadias, decreased sperm counts, and altered mating behavior. When a widely used insecticide, methoxychlor, was fed at low doses to pregnant mice, it caused permanent increases in prostate weight in male offspring of females.

Endocrine disruptors can affect male/female sex ratio in Daphnia (a water flea).

Feminized Male Alligators

Male alligators exposed to pesticides in Florida have difficulty reproducing, partly because their penises are not developing to normal size. Effects attributed to estrogenic environmental toxins have produced male American alligators with underdeveloped sex organs and vitellogenin (an egg and yolk protein normally found only in females) in male animals.
Also, alligator eggs exposed to DDT or another pesticide, dicofol, hatch male alligators that grow penises only one-third to one-half normal size, and fail to breed.

In addition, males of of many other wildlife species in the same areas of Florida (birds, fish, amphibians, and mammals) are being "feminized" by exposure to low levels of pesticides and other toxic chemicals released into the environment.

Florida Panthers

The Florida panther, an endangered species, is failing to reproduce itself. There are only 30 to 50 panthers remaining, and the reason for the decline has postulated to an effect of environmental estrogens. Between 1985 and 1990, 67 percent of male panthers were born with one or more undescended testicles (cryptorchidism). Some Florida panthers are sterile and many others produce abnormal or deformed sperm.

Loss of Libido in Men
Estrogenic chemicals block testosterone actions. This can reduce sexual arousal and sensation and contribute the a loss of libido.

Testicular Cancer

Many industrialized countries have witnessed recently a sharp rise in testicular cancer, according to Dr. Skakkebaek, (Department of Growth and Reproduction at Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Denmark). Some of the first data reporting this increase emerged in Denmark, which has maintained a national cancer registry since 1947.

In Denmark, the incidence of testicular cancer has more than tripled over the past 50 years and the rate of increase continues to grow. Similar increases have also been reported in Scotland, the United States, and other Scandinavian countries.

Human Sperm Counts Decline

The sperm count in men in industrialized countries has dropped 50% during the past 50 years, and the exposure to endocrine-disrupting compounds is the most likely cause. Skakoebaek and his group conducted an analysis of previously published studies on semen quality. The international data, from studies involving 14,947 men, indicate that the average density of sperm has fallen from 113 million per milliliter of semen in 1940 to just 66 million per ml in 1990.

Skakkebaek's group also noted that because the volume of semen available in these men at any given time has also dropped an average of 19 percent, the 50-year drop in sperm count has been larger than sperm density alone would indicate.

Undescended Testicles (cryptorchidism)

Though formed near the kidneys, both testicles should migrate down into the scrotum by birth. Undescended testicles usually complete their migration within a year or two after birth, but some never do. Men with undescended testicles are unable to make sperm.

Only a few countries maintain registries on this condition, but Skakkebaek found that two British studies documented a near doubling of the number of boys born with at least one undescended testicle from about 1.6 percent in the 1950s to 2.9 percent in the late 1970s.

Other studies have reported that in England and the USA, cryptorchidism has more than doubled in men during the last four decades. (A. Giwercman and N.E. Skakkebaek, "The human testis--an organ at risk?" INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF ANDROLOGY Vol. 15 (1992), pgs. 373-375: Elisabeth Carlsen and others, "Evidence for decreasing quality of semen during past 50 years," BRITISH MEDICAL JOURNAL Vol. 305 (1992), pgs. 609-613)

In young boys living in an area of heavy agricultural activity on the Spanish Mediterranean coast, there was found an association between pesticide exposure and undescended testicles.

Hypospadias in Men

Hypospadias are congenital abnormalities of the urinary tract. During fetal development, the penis possesses an open groove down its length that normally closes before birth. Boys born with only partial closure of the groove need surgery to correct the problem.
Birth registries in England and Wales record that hypospadias more than doubled between 1964 and 1983. Further studies found link between undescended testicles at birth and testicular cancer in adulthood. Low sperm counts or abnormal sperm also are associated with testicular cancer.

All these changes may be the consequence of fetal exposure. Testicular cancer, undescended testicles, hypospadias, and poor-quality semen have been found in the male offspring of women who, during pregnancy, were treated with diethylstilbestrol (DES), a potent synthetic estrogen. Research at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences in Research Triangle Park, N.C. found many environmental contaminants can mimic the reproductive effects of estrogen and DES in male animals.

Estrogenic PCBs and Insecticides Diminish Penis Size in Humans and Animals

Boys in Taiwan exposed to PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) while in their mothers' womb developed smaller than normal penises as they matured.
(Marguerite Holloway, "Dioxin Indictment," SCIENTIFIC AMERICAN Vol. 270 (January 1994), pg. 25.; Gina Kolata,

"PCB Exposure Linked to Birth Defects in Taiwan," NEW YORK TIMES August 2, 1988, pg. C3)
 
The boys in Taiwan are called the "yucheng" (or "oil disease") children. A similar PCB contamination ("yusho") occurred in Japan in 1968. When 115 yucheng children were examined, they were found to be delayed when compared to controls. The delayed development effects in the children's behavior that were most noticeable were the age when they first (1) talked with sentences, (2) turned pages of books, (3) carried out requests of parents, and (4) were able to hold pencils and catch balls.

The boy's mothers had eaten PCB-contaminated rice oil in 1979. The children consumed none of the oil but they were exposed before birth to PCBs in their mother's blood and after birth to PCBs in their mother's milk. The rice oil contained 100 parts per million (ppm) PCBs. A new mother in the USA has an average of one ppm PCBs in her breast milk.

Researchers at University of Wisconsin found low exposures before birth to dioxin, another toxic estrogen, feminized the behavior of male rats during adulthood, and sharply reduced their sperm production. The researchers concluded that the fetal male reproductive system was more sensitive to dioxin than any other organ-system studied." (Janet Raloff, "The Gender Benders," SCIENCE NEWS Vol. 145 (January 8, 1994), pgs. 24-27; Perinatal dioxin feminizes male rats," SCIENCE NEWS Vol. 141 (May 30, 1992), pg. 359; "EcoCancers," SCIENCE NEWS Vol. 144 (July 3, 1993), pgs. 10-13)

Santa Barbara's Lesbian Seagulls

Dr. Michael Fry at University of California, Davis, reported that Western gulls on Santa Barbara Island are often in recent years becoming lesbian gulls, with female pairs building nests and trying to hatch eggs and raise offspring. Fry attributes this as partly due to male seagulls' increasing indifference to sex. Examinations found that the male gulls often have feminized sex organs, attributed to the males being "chemically castrated" by DDT and other estrogenic other environmental pollutants.


Symptoms of excessive estrogen in women

In women, excessive estrogen and estrogen-like chemicals produce intensified estrogen effects on the body.

Excessive estrogen:

1. Affects your fluid balance, so that swelling due to fluid retention may become noticeable. It can causes elevations of blood pressure, headaches, and migraines.

2. Has a stimulating effect on breast tissue but excess estrogen can also increase fibrocystic breast disease and painful breast swelling.

3. Suppresses thyroid hormone production and this may cause fatigue plus aches and pains in muscles and joints.

4. Stimulates the appetite, makes you crave sweets, leads to weight gain from fat as well as fluid.

5. Intensifies PMS symptoms and produce a mental feeling of being edgy and nervous. Insomnia is also a common side effect.

6. Increases your chances of developing emdometriosis, breast cancer, and uterine cancer.
(An updated review of environmental estrogen and androgen mimics and antagonists. Sonnenschein C, Soto AM. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol 1998 Apr;65(1-6)143-50)


The Failure of Academic Dermatologists to Protect the Public

Why did this situation with sunscreens arise? Why was it only research scientists who repeatedly raised concerns about sunscreen safety? Why was the academic dermatology community silent?
Most of the academic community has a long tradition of informing the public about real and potential dangers to the wider social community. When I lived in Santa Barbara, Linus Pauling held a weekly protest in front of the Santa Barbara Library against the testing of nuclear weapons in the atmosphere. He continued his protests in spite of intense pressure from the US Government and covert campaigns of slander against him. In 1952, the State Department refused to renew Pauling's passport. The official reason was that his travels "would not be in the best interest of the United States". Pauling was unable to attend a meeting of the Royal Society in London which was called to honor him and to discuss his ideas about potential structures of DNA. Many felt that he missed the chance to be the first to unravel the structure of DNA because he wasn't able to confer with colleagues. Although issued a short term passport in the summer of 1952, Pauling's requests for passport renewals were routinely denied during the next two years.

Pauling eventually won the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign and nuclear weapons testing in the atmosphere was terminated. But even today, in year 2002, a study by the Center for Disease Control estimated that the radioactive fallout from the atmospheric nuclear weapons tests caused about 11,000 deaths from cancer in the USA and produced a minimum of 22,000 new cancers. Some non-governmental groups are of the opinion that the deaths were far higher and still are responsible for 15,000 deaths yearly in the USA.

Many other academics have, in recent years, led protests against actions and policies that were damaging to the wider community. These include campaigns to remove chemical toxins from foods, clothes, building materials and the wider environment. Other concerns over global warming, species extinction, and global poverty have been sharply delineated by members of the academic community.

This raises the questions as to why no member of the academic dermatology community, over the past 30 years, raised warnings about the dangers of chemical sunscreens. The answer is that the cosmetic industry has effectively silenced leading academic dermatologists by a widespread pattern of payments in the form of consulting fees, grants, retainers, vacation arrangements, and so on. In essence, industry has bought their silence on issues and products that might be embarrassing. Most academic dermatologists focus their attention on innocuous, safe, non-controversial topics that will not offend their corporate sponsors. Like Dr. Faust, they must honor their agreements with their benefactors.


Wider Social Effects of Estrogenic Sunscreens
In countries where sunscreens have been extensively used over the past 50 years, there have also been profound changes in sexual attitudes and conduct. Many scientists are of the opinion that some of these changes have been induced by the widespread exposure to estrogenic chemicals. These effects include sexual confusion, unhappiness, and a difficulty in bonding with others. This is exemplified by falling or negative birth rates in most culturally advanced societies.