Sunscreen Products Exposed

MSNBC did an expose today on sunscreen products. Apparently there are 9 law suits pending against popular brands including Coppertone, Banana Boat, Hawaiian Tropic, Bullfrog and Neutrogena. The law suits name Johnson & Johnson Inc., Schering-Plough Corp., Playtex Products Inc., Tanning Research Laboratories Inc. and Chattem Inc. as defendants. See what I mean when I say that just because a brand is popular doesn't mean it's necessarily best??

As reported by MSNBC, The law suit against the providers of popular sunscreen companies alleges that "manufacturers dangerously inflate claims about the protective qualities of sunscreens, lulling consumers into believing they are safe from the dangers of prolonged sun exposure." One lawsuit filed in LA says that the sunscreen is “snake oil of the 21st century." Isn't that something???

Basicaly, it appears that popular manufacturers of sunscreen lead people to believe that using their sunscreen will protect your skin from UVA and UVB rays and is effective even when you are in water. The suit states that the actuality of it all is that at best these so called sunscreen products, only protect the skin against harmful UVA rays with shorter wavelengths and NOT against harmful UVA rays with longer wavelengths which will penetrate the skin and cause damage.

All I have to say is, "As with most products, take what the labels say with a grain of salt. If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is."