It’s summertime and it’s HOT. As we broil away, the beach beckons. But hanging out at the beach comes at a cost: the harm of prolonged exposure to the sun is now well documented--skin cancer, premature aging. So the answer, it seems, is to slather on the sunscreen. But what if the sunscreen is not as effective as we’d like to think? And, worse yet, what if the sunscreen itself causes skin cancer? In fact, Senator Charles Schumer of New York is calling on the FDA to search for a possible cancer link with a sunscreen ingredient, retinyl palmitate. Got you worried? Step into the shade and tune in.
Guests:
Michael Hansen, Senior Scientist at Consumers Union, the publisher of Consumer Reports
John Bailey, Chief Scientist at the Personal Care Products Council
Kerry Hanson, Senior Research Scientist in the chemistry department at UC Riverside