Survey shows young Americans are skeptical of sunscreen safety. Misinformation on social media doesn't help. Anna Vishnjak/Getty Images Hide caption
Toggle caption Anna Vishnjak/Getty Images
TikTok is full of videos from influencers offering health and skin care advice, but there's also a lot of misinformation about sunscreen, including false claims that it's toxic and worse than the sun damage it protects against.
These kinds of videos are very common on social media and they're dangerous, says Dr. Heather Rogers, a dermatologist in Seattle, who says some of the information is just plain wrong.
“Several celebrities, including reality TV star Kristin Cavallari, have said they don't wear sunscreen, that wearing sunscreen is unnatural, or that sunscreen causes cancer. That's not factual or accurate,” Rogers said.
But it appears to be having an impact: Recent surveys have found that a significant number of young Americans doubt the safety of sunscreen and are generally misinformed when it comes to sun protection.
A survey by the Orlando Health Cancer Institute found that one in seven American adults under the age of 35 believes using sunscreen every day is more harmful than being in direct sunlight.
This is concerning because melanoma is one of the most common cancers in young adults, said Dr. Rajesh Nair, a surgical oncologist at the institute who helped write the study.
“We're seeing an increase in young and middle-aged adults with not just skin cancer, but advanced stages of skin cancer,” Nair said.
The impetus for conducting the survey came after conversations with young patients revealed that many of them rely almost exclusively on social media for health information.
His findings are in line with those of another study by the American Academy of Dermatology, which found that many members of Gen Z aren't aware of the risks of sunburn or basic sun protection measures.
For example, 37% of Gen Z respondents said they only use sunscreen if recommended by others, and 30% mistakenly believe that tanning is safe as long as it doesn't burn them.
Dermatologist Heather Rogers says there's no such thing as a safe tan.
“The reason your body tans is after DNA has been damaged,” she explains. When you're exposed to UV rays from the sun or tanning beds, your skin absorbs the light, which causes mutations in your DNA.
“Your DNA then goes, 'Oh no, this is damaged. Is there anything I can do about this?' and it spits out the pigments it has. So by the time you get a tan, you've already experienced some DNA mutations,” Rogers says.
And these mutations can lead to skin cancer and premature aging.
Rogers says part of the hesitancy to use sunscreen stems from research showing that chemical sunscreens may be absorbed into the bloodstream at higher levels than previously thought, and more research is needed. Despite these unknowns, she says, “the risks of chemical sunscreens have not been demonstrated in humans, and I think it's really important to be up front and communicate that.”
“Any sunscreen is better than no sunscreen,” Rogers emphasizes.
But if you're worried about chemical sunscreens, Nehru and Rogers recommend using a mineral sunscreen, such as zinc oxide, which acts as a physical barrier against UV rays and is less likely to enter the bloodstream.
But you should still wear sunscreen, Nair says, because the evidence for its benefits is strong and compelling: “We know that using sunscreen can reduce your risk of skin cancer by 40 to 50 percent,” Nair says.
If health concerns aren't enough to motivate you to slather on sunscreen, vanity should do the trick, says Nair: After all, sun exposure is the most common cause of wrinkles, age spots, and other signs of premature aging.
This story was edited by Jane Greenhalgh