Sunscreen - protection or poison?

- Rene Hernandez

Okay…the wife and I are going camping and think it’s time for more sunscreen…this is where the journey begins.

There are so many choices. SPF “0” to 130, and some for little babies using “Triplex technology”….really. So we looked at many brands and should it be an oil, or lotion, spray on, or wipe on..and how tanned do I want to get so I can get the right SPF for just the right tone, or something I can cake on for complete coverage (that’s a lot O lotion).  In the end we decided to go with what we’ve always bought and worked for us in the past despite the new stuff with Cedar scent to fend off bugs, or designer Ed Hardy lotion. In trying to live a healthier lifestyle we thought about what chemicals go in this stuff…you’ll be amazed on what we found out. Check out this article.

By Green Living Tips
Sunscreen, our health and the environment First published July 2007, updated June 2011 The regular use of sunscreen lotion might provide some protection from sunburn, but it may also have quite serious health risks - for ourselves and the wider environment. The sunscreen industry is huge - worth billions of dollars annually. It rose to mega-profitability when a link was made between skin cancer and over-exposure to the sun in the late 60's/early 1970's. Yet the incidence of skin cancer continues to rise even though these products are widely used. The latest investigation by the Environmental Working Group of over 1,700 sunscreens and other sun-blocking products currently on the market found only one in five sunscreens earned high marks for safety and efficacy. Leading brands were again this year among the worst offenders. It's quite disturbing what's in some sunscreen preparations. Here's a partial list: Aminobenzoic acid - possible carcinogen may be implicated in cardiovascular disease. Avobenzone - possible carcinogen Cinoxate - some evidence of skin toxicity Dioxybenzone - strong evidence of skin toxicity and possible carcinogen; hormone disruptor and has been found in waterways, soil and air. Has been shown to have a "gender bender" effect in animals Diazolidinyl urea - possible carcinogen, endocrine, central nervous system and brain effects, skin toxicity an compromises the immune system Ecamsule - may be carcinogenic Homosalate - endocrine disruption Methylparaben - interferes with genes Octocrylene - found to be persistent and bioaccumulative in wildlife, liver issues and possible carcinogen Octyl methoxycinnamate - accumulates in the body, may disrupt liver and is a possible carcinogen Octyl salicylate - broad systemic effects in animals at moderate doses Oxybenzone - possible carcinogen and contributor to vascular disease, may affect the brain and nervous system in animals Padimate O - suspected carcinogen Phenylbenzimidazole - possible carcinogen Phenoxyethanol - irritant, possible carcinogen, endocrine disruption Sulisobenzone - strong evidence of skin toxicity, affects sense organs in animals Titanium dioxide - suspected carcinogen when in nanomaterial form Zinc Oxide - bioaccumulative in wildlife, evidence of reproductive toxicity Fragrances, colors and preservatives - I hate to think To prevent skin cancer, we need to slap on potentially carcinogenic compounds and chemicals that interfere with our immune and reproductive systems and that also pose a risk to the wider environment? Millions of gallons of sunscreen is consumed each year. After application, it doesn't mysteriously vanish - it winds up either soaking into our bodies and accumulating there or is excreted (into the environment) or washed off; again - into the environment. I'm now a little cynical about the claimed benefits of sunscreen. Sure, it may stop us from burning; but isn't that nature's way of telling us "get the heck out of the sun and don't stay out here this long again"? And aside from all the chemicals, does it actually stop melanomas, the most dangerous type of skin cancer, from forming? Nobody has proven that sunscreen helps protect against melanomas as far as I know. In fact, some of the advice from researchers I've read basically states; "we don't know, but you should keep using sunscreen - just to be safe". How safe are we in applying these chemical cocktails? One of the other problems with sunscreen is in order to be effective against less serious forms of skin cancer, you need to use a lot of it, and far more often than what the manufacturers recommend and regardless of what the SPF rating is. If you're in shorts and a t-shirt and working up a bit of a sweat, the amount you'd need to use over an 8 hour period is the equivalent to a 100 ml or 3.5 ounce tube. Imagine if you worked outside each day and followed "best practice" sunscreen application - it would cost you a fortune, not to mention having applied many pounds of toxic chemicals to your body every year. Let's not forget about all that packaging too - mainly plastic tubes and pump packs that wind up in landfill - millions of them every single year. By using sunscreen, are we swapping the risk of one type of cancer for more serious kinds, plus other health and environmental problems? After many hours of reading on the subject; the cheapest, most earth friendly and proven sunscreen solutions I could find are: - stay out of the sun - stay out of the sun especially between 10 and 3pm - if you have to spend time in the sun, cover up, wear a wide brimmed hat and uv sunglasses. It's basically all just common sense. I did come across earth friendly products that contained herbs and oils to replace some of the chemicals listed above, but I'm really not confident after the studies I've read as to how effective these might be in terms of preventing melanoma or other forms of skin cancer. There's also the issue of micronized and nanoparticle ingredients which are still often found in otherwise greener products. The Environmental Working Group has listed what it believes to be"good" sunscreens here; but even they say "the best sunscreen is a hat and a shirt". Some people just aren't meant to spend lengthy periods in the sun - and light skinned Caucasians are a group most at risk. People with lighter features are 20 times more likely to develop melanoma than African Americans. Perhaps it's just another case of us needing to work with the environment instead of trying to beat it all the time.

CITY’S SINGLE STREAM RECYCLING PROGRAM A CONTINUED SUCCESS

- Lawrence Mikolajczyk, Director, Solid Waste Operations

It has been almost six months since the City of Corpus Christi Solid Waste Operations Department kicked off its single stream curbside recycling program.  Officials say all indications are that the program continues to be extremely successful.

 According to Solid Waste officials, last month residents recycled 1,120 tons through the program.  That compares to 241 tons of recyclables collected during May of 2010, which represents a 364% increase in the amount recycled over the same period last year.  “The success of the single stream curbside recycling program thus far demonstrates that the residents of Corpus Christi were more than ready to take this step toward making our city a greener and more progressive community that cares about the environment,” said Lawrence Mikolajczyk, Director of Solid Waste Operations.   “The amount recycled each month has stayed pretty consistent ever since we began the program at the end of January this year.  I would like to thank our residents for doing their share to keep our program on a successful track, and I encourage everyone to help keep the momentum going.  It really does benefit our entire community,” Mikolajczyk said.

According to Mikolajczy, not only are residents continuing to recycle more, but the amount of material that must be separated from those items and sent to the landfill is extremely low, at just about eight percent.  He says that is lower than many other Texas cities.

 Solid Waste officials remind residents that they can make sure the recycling effort is accomplished as quickly and efficiently as possible by following these guidelines:

·       Make sure that the recycling and garbage containers are at least three feet apart, to allow enough room for collection trucks to maneuver.

·       Bag up plastic bags, plastic film, plastic storage bags, plastic bread bags and any other plastic packaging, to prevent them from becoming tangled in the mechanical equipment.

·       Set out the recycling cart between 5:30 a.m. and 7:30 a.m. on your recycling day, and remove the cart from the curb as quickly as possible (before midnight that same day), after the recycling has been collected.     

For more information, please contact Solid Waste Operations at 826-1965 or at www.cctexas.com/solidwasteservices.

When Getting Started, It’s About the Little Things

-By Leigh Geiter

People only change when external or internal influences mandate a change.  Many people think that so much change might be needed but fear that just their own individual contribution won’t add up to much; so they do not begin the journey to effect the core changes that are necessary.  I do not subscribe to this philosophy.  As is also said, the journey of a thousand miles begins with just one foot step in a forward direction.  For me, it was an internal desire to live in a cleaner world.

Although I have always thought of myself as a “Mother Earth” sort, I was not what one might call a “tree hugger.”  I loved organic gardening…but didn’t recycle.  I loved nature …but didn’t consider man’s impact on the environment.  About ten or so years ago, I would go to visit my Dad in Austin and saw that a very high percentage of people shopping in supermarkets there brought their own reuseable grocery bags to shop.  And, I started to think:  THAT act was just one small change that I could make that would help keep those annoying plastic bags from flying all over our streets and parks; much less cut down on the use of plastics.  I remember the first few times I took my own reuseable grocery bag to HEB.  The looks I got were priceless and amusing.  Now, years later, I am glad to say that enough customers at my local HEB are using reuseable bags that I am no longer the odd one out.  So many more customers are coming to the store with their reuseable bags in hand that it makes me feel like more people are becoming CONSCIOUS!!

So, with just a single, small act, my journey with environmental consciousness had begun.  What next?  Naturally, feeling like I had very easily accomplished a small change in habit, I looked for another difference-making change that I could make.  So, we changed out our old fashioned, energy burning light bulbs, in favor of incandescent bulbs that last so much longer and burn far less energy.  Easy peasy…  This was starting to get fun!

Then, our City started a Recycling Program.  It wasn’t intensely adopted, at first.  Subsequently, earlier this year, we converted to a more embraceable Recycling Program, which has received a very strong response thus far.  It was recently reported in local news that landfill garbage had been reduced significantly and we recently earned the City a refund from our Recycle Partner.

In March of this year, I was lucky enough to catch the airing of a documentary on PBS called “Bag It.”  If you haven’t had a chance to watch the one-hour documentary (also available online), you should really make the time.  It’s incredible!!  You talk about planting the seeds of core change in habits…  Initially, the documentary focuses on what it takes to manufacture those flimsy shopping bags, their effect on the environment, and the immense island of plastic garbage that circulates in the Pacific Ocean, but then the viewer quickly realizes that the main issue is “single use plastics.”  We take petroleum that’s taken millions of years to form, use the equivalent of one third of the space of the item to manufacture a plastic water bottle, salad dressing bottle, mayonnaise jar, or juice bottle, etc., and then after one use, we throw it away.  Shame!  The documentary shows how Europeans use aluminum thermoses to dispense their water, how flimsy shopping bags are banned, and offers many alternatives to the continued abuse of single use plastics.  NOW, I was engaged in my decision making about the products, services, and even organizations with which I wanted to do business.  We are now in the process of ceasing our use of plastic water containers and switching to a private water service, as I no longer CHOOSE to further the abusive conduct of willfully purchasing products that employ the use of single use plastics. 

And, so it truly is just being aware of the very little things that you can do to make a big difference for our community and our planet.  We’ve only got one Earth, and we need to do everything that we can to preserve her beauty and viability for the generations to come.  I still don’t consider myself a “tree hugger.”  I don’t have wind turbines in my backyard, or solar panels on my house (yet), but I do feel like I’ve made a small difference that makes a big impact…if everyone would start thinking of “just one thing that they could do to make an improvement.”  It’s actually begun to be fun to consider new ways that little changes can make a big difference.

New Energy on the Highways?

-By Terry Shannon

We’ve all seen them - highway signs, street lights, blinking yellow lights, all powered with a solar panel. But the Texas Department of Transportation

(TX DOT) is experimenting with a new source of energy, a miniature wind turbine. Residents of the Coastal Bend can see two of these firsthand on

State Highway 44 between Corpus Christi’s airport and Robstown, and two others at the intersection of SH 35 and SH 188 in Aransas County.

But why the change? Wind in South Texas is a constant, which sometimes creates issues for the solar panels. The turbines takes advantage of the

wind to provide the necessary energy to operate the blinking beacons. Solar powered and wind turbine powered lights are exceptionally easy to install because they eliminate the need for electricity at the location of

the sign/lights. For TX DOT, it becomes a simple matter of digging a hole and emplacing the pole/lights and installing a panel or turbine.The new turbine-powered blinking lights being tested were loaned by the turbine manufacturer. According to TX DOT, they seem to be working, although they caution that unlike solar panels, wind turbines are mechanical, meaning there is always a chance that it can stop working, or worse, getting hit by a car and damaging the props.

But for now, the wind turbines are doing the job and chances are Texas

motorists will see more of them on Texas-operated highways. Other TX

DOT districts are studying the feasibility of using wind turbines to power

traffic signals.