If you’re a skin-care enthusiast, you should know by now that wearing sunscreen regularly is your best defense against signs of premature aging and skin cancer. That said, if you’re doing your due diligence and wearing sunscreen on your face and body every day (not just when the sun is out), you may want to make sure your favorite SPF actually meets the Environmental Working Group’s (EWG) safety criteria. The group just released its 19th Annual Guide to Sunscreens, and the report shows that “over 77 percent of reviewed sunscreens rate poorly for skin protection or concerning ingredients.”
Each year, EWG evaluates thousands of sunscreens based on the ingredients they contain and how effective they are when it comes to protecting against harmful UV rays. This year, 2,204 SPF products were reviewed, and of that number, only 498 were deemed safe and effective.
“Wearing any sunscreen is much more important and offers better sun protection for your skin than not applying anything,” EWG’s acting chief science officer David Andrews, Ph.D, said in the report. “But not all sunscreens are created equal. EWG’s guide is a valuable and trusted resource that consumers can turn to every year to find the sunscreens that offer strongest broad spectrum protection without the use of concerning ingredients.”
Per the report, some of the ingredients that were cause for concern were fragrances that could potentially irritate the skin and “boosters” like butyloctyl salicylate (BOS), which can inflate a product’s SPF level without actually adding any protection against UV rays. BOS is also a chemical filter, but it can be added to mineral sunscreens without needing to be disclosed, meaning that companies can deceptively marketing mineral formulas containing the ingredient as “all-mineral” even if they’re technically not.
The good news is that the report finds that plenty of manufacturers are also now reducing their use of oxybenzone, which is known to be harmful to marine environments, as well as vitamin A, which can degrade in sunlight and potentially accelerate skin cancer.
You can find a few of our favorite safe options below (the products featured are either EWG-Verified or have scored a one or two, with one being the safest), and the full list of top-rated EWG sunscreens here.
