Shopping for sunscreen? The Environmental Working Group's (EWG) newly released 2011 sunscreen guide can help you make smart decisions.

This research and advocacy group recommends a mere 20 percent of the 600-plus beach and sport sunscreens it evaluated. To score high marks in the rankings, a product must be effective -- adequately protect skin from both UVA (which causes premature aging, skin cancer, and other skin damage) and UVB (which causes sunburn) rays. It must also be safe, meaning free of potentially harmful chemicals.

The 2011 products to avoid list contains some popular brands.

EWG's Sunscreens to Avoid:

Aveeno Active Naturals Hydrosport Sunblock Spray, SPF 85
Aveeno Sunblock Spray, Continuous Protection, SPF 70
Banana Boat Kids UltraMist Sunscreen, SPF 110
Banana Boat Kids UltraMist Sunscreen, SPF 85
Banana Boat Sport Performance Active Max Protect Continuous Spray Sunscreen, SPF 110
Banana Boat Ultra Defense UltraMist Sunscreen Continuous Clear Spray, SPF 85
CVSExtreme Sport Clear Mist Sunscreen Spray, SPF 70+
CVS Sheer Mist Sunscreen Spray, SPF 70
Neutrogena Fresh Cooling Sunblock Lotion, Body Mist, SPF 70
Neutrogena Spectrum+ Sunblock Spray, SPF 100
Neutrogena Ultimate Sport Sunblock Spray, SPF 100+
Neutrogena Ultimate Sport Sunblock Spray, SPF 70
Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Mist Sunblock Lotion, SPF 100+
Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Body Mist Sunblock Lotion, SPF 70
Neutrogena Wet Skin Kids Sunblock Spray, SPF 70
Neutrogena Wet Skin Sunblock Spray, SPF 85+
Walgreens Sheer Body Mist Sunscreen, SPF 70
How did EWG come up with this list? Each of the products to avoid meets all of these criteria:

SPF values above 50-plus. Higher SPF products are not necessarily best. In fact, the Food and Drug Administration says these numbers can be misleading. There's a concern that high SPF products may give people a false sense of security and encourage people to stay out in the sun for too long without reapplying sunscreen. It's also important to note that the SPF is based solely on UVB protection.
Sunscreen sprays. They can fill the air with tiny particles that may not be safe to breathe in, according to EWG.
Contains oxybenzone and vitamin A. Oxybenzone is a concern because it penetrates the skin, is associated with allergic reactions, and is a potential hormone disruptor. Retinyl palmitate is a form of vitamin A that may not be safe when exposed to sunlight. EWG recommends choosing products with one of these ingredients instead: zinc, titanium dioxide, avobenzone, or Mexoryl SX.
Which products does EWG recommend? Here's a list of its best beach and sport sunscreens.

Unfortunately, some of the safest and most effective sunscreens on store shelves can be expensive so it's worthwhile to shop around for deals. Here are the most affordable products that performed well in EWG's ratings (calculated by Yahoo! based on price per ounce).

Safer, Affordable Sunscreens:

Alba Botanica Sun: Mineral Sunscreen Fragrance Free, SPF 30
Alba Botanical Sun: Mineral Sunscreen Kids, SPF 30
Aubrey Organics Natural Sun Saving Face Sunscreen, SPF 15
All Terrain Aquasport Performance Sunscreen, SPF 30
All Terrain KidSport Sunscreen, SPF 30
BabyGanics Cover Up Baby Sunscreen for Face & Body, Fragrance Free, SPF 50+
Carribean Solutions Natural/Biodegradable SolGuard, SPF 25
Carribean Solutions Sol Kid Kare Natural Sunscreen, SPF 25
Earth's Best: Sunblock Mineral Based, SPF 30+
Goddess Garden Kids Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+
Goddess Garden Natural Sunscreen, SPF 30+
Jason Natural Cosmetics Sunbrellas: Mineral Natural Sunblock, SPF 30
Johnson & Johnson's Baby Daily Face & Body Lotion, SPF 40
Mexitan Products Sunscreen Lotion, SPF 50 and SPF 30
MelanSol Natural Sunscreen for Face and Body, SPF 25
Nature's Gate Mineral Sportblock, SPF 20
Purple Prairie Botanicals SunStuff, SPF 30
Solbar Zinc Protection Cream, SPF 38
Sunbow Dora the Explorer Pink Sunscreen, SPF 30
Tropical Sands All Natural Sunscreen, SPF 50 and SPF 30
Vanicream Sunscreen for Sensitive Skin, SPF 30
Vanicream Sunscreen Sport, SPF 35
EWG also includes ratings for best moisturizers, lip balms, and makeup with SPF.

It's worth noting that using sunscreen is only one part of smart sun protection. Limit your time outside in the middle of the day when the sun's rays are most intense. Wear a hat, sunglasses, and protective clothing (dark and tightly-woven). Get more sun safety tips from EWG.

http://breakingnews.ewg.org/2011sunscreen/

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Related Links:

Safe Sunscreens
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/10052.html

Protect Your Skin: May 27th Is Don’t Fry Day!
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/protect-your-skin-may-27th-is-dont-fry-day.html

My 4 Favorite Medicinal Weeds
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/my-4-favorite-medicinal-weeds.html

12 Foods With Super-Healing Powers
http://www.care2.com/greenliving/12-foods-with-super-healing-powers.htm

From May 11-June 17, City of Toronto launches public consultation on City services. The City will host eight roundtable discussions across Toronto. For roundtable registration & online survey, please visit:

http://www.toronto.ca/torontoservicereview

(Note: Multilingual online survey is available, please click "enter your feedback online", select the language of your choice and follow the instructions.)

Researchers for the first time have shown that drinking beet juice can increase blood flow to the brain in older adults -- a finding that could hold great potential for combating the progression of dementia.

The research findings are available online in Nitric Oxide: Biology and Chemistry, the peer-reviewed journal of the Nitric Oxide Society and will be available in print soon.

"There have been several very high-profile studies showing that drinking beet juice can lower blood pressure, but we wanted to show that drinking beet juice also increases perfusion, or blood flow, to the brain," said Daniel Kim-Shapiro, director of Wake Forest University's Translational Science Center; Fostering Independence in Aging. "There are areas in the brain that become poorly perfused as you age, and that's believed to be associated with dementia and poor cognition."

High concentrations of nitrates are found in beets, as well as in celery, cabbage and other leafy green vegetables like spinach and some lettuce. When you eat high-nitrate foods, good bacteria in the mouth turn nitrate into nitrite. Research has found that nitrites can help open up the blood vessels in the body, increasing blood flow and oxygen specifically to places that are lacking oxygen.

In this study, the first to find a link between consumption of nitrate-rich beet juice and increased blood flow to the brain, Translational Science Center researchers looked at how dietary nitrates affected 14 adults age 70 and older over a period of four days.

On the first day, the study subjects reported to the lab after a 10-hour fast, completed a health status report, and consumed either a high- or low-nitrate breakfast. The high-nitrate breakfast included 16 ounces of beet juice. They were sent home with lunch, dinner and snacks conforming to their assigned diets.

The next day, following another 10-hour fast, the subjects returned to the lab, where they ate their assigned breakfasts. One hour after breakfast, an MRI recorded the blood flow in each subject's brain. Blood tests before and after breakfast confirmed nitrite levels in the body.

For the third and fourth days of the study, the researchers switched the diets and repeated the process for each subject.
The MRIs showed that after eating a high-nitrate diet, the older adults had increased blood flow to the white matter of the frontal lobes -- the areas of the brain commonly associated with degeneration that leads to dementia and other cognitive conditions.

"I think these results are consistent and encouraging -- that good diet consisting of a lot of fruits and vegetables can contribute to overall good health," said Gary Miller, associate professor in the Department of Health and Exercise Science and one of the senior investigators on the project.

To make the sometimes-bitter beet juice tastier -- so a greater number of people will drink it and reap its health benefits -- the university has worked with a company to create a new beet juice-based beverage. The university is currently looking into ways of marketing the beverage.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/11/101102130957.htm

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Related Links:

Carbon Nanotubes may Cause Cancer
http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/01/110118092134.htm

Toxic Cosmetics Ingredients to Avoid
http://greenlivingonline.com/article/dirty-dozen

Since the dawn of dirty laundry, people in southern Asia have used fruits known as soapnuts to wash their clothes. Now the rest of the world is catching on to this green way of getting clean. Widely available in Europe, the fruits are called Waschnusse in Germany, noix de lavage in France, and noci de sapone in Italy. They’ve also spread into the U.S., Canada, Australia, and other countries with large markets for eco-friendly products.

Native to warm climates, soapnut trees produce clusters of cherry-like fruits. After the ripe fruits are harvested and pitted, the skin and pulp are dried in the sun. The resulting hollow, leathery globes make suds when added to water that’s churned by hand or machine.

The active ingredients in these fruits are saponins—essentially, nature’s detergents. Scientifically, they’re known as surfactants because they lower the surface tension of water. That counteracts water’s tendency to clump together in drops. Instead, the water spreads out and penetrates woven fibers to lift out and rinse away dirt. Saponins appear in many other plants—asparagus, chickpeas, horse chestnuts, olives, and soybeans, for instance—but at very low levels. The best soapnuts are rich in saponins, which can make up more than ten percent of the fruits’ content.

Unlike manufactured cleaners, soapnuts contain no mysterious ingredients and create no scum (see below). They’re antifungal, antibacterial, hypoallergenic, and biodegradable. They’re gentle on clothes and can even be used on delicate fabrics like silk and cashmere. In India they’re often used as cleansers for skin and hair and are included in many traditional Ayurvedic preparations to cure such ills as eczema and psoriasis. They’re also believed to have gentle insecticidal properties that can help remove lice.

The Icky Secrets of Soap and Detergent

Like soapnuts, traditional bar soap has a long history as a cleaning agent, but it works differently. Soap molecules arrange themselves in clusters that trap oil and dirt. The chemistry of soap creates a problem, though. Soaps are made from animal fats or plant oils in combination with lye. In hard water those ingredients react with the high levels of calcium and magnesium to form a white, solid curd. That reduces soap’s ability to clean and leaves a residue on sinks, tubs, skin, and hair.

Modern detergents were created after the Second World War to eliminate the scum factor. They rely on synthetic surfactants derived mainly from petrochemicals. Most of the modern formulas also include a long list of compounds designed to help control the minerals in hard water, enhance surfactant activity, remove stains, reduce suds, keep dirt suspended in the water, and and add brightness to clothes being cleaned. They may also contain bleaches, fabric softeners, and preservatives as well as artificial fragrances and dyes.

Most shampoos are based on detergent formulas. They often include ingredients such as lemon extracts to acidify them. That makes the scales on each hair shaft lie flat, causing the overall coiffure to look shiny and smooth even though it’s coated with who-knows-what chemicals.

http://blogs.ngm.com/blog_central/2010/08/can-soapnuts-take-the-place-of-laundry-detergent.html

We use cosmetics every day and there are so many available, from natural, organic cosmetics to highly advertised conventional products. If you’re like me, I try to consume as many organic, natural foods and beverages as possible. Several years ago I turned my attention to another area that affects our health, namely the cosmetics we use and enjoy every day.

I learned that many of the products I used on myself and my children contained, or were exclusively composed of, synthetic, petroleum-derived ingredients. Soon, my list of ingredients that I wanted to avoid became quite long and complicated. Shopping for natural products became confusing and difficult. As a result, I narrowed down my list of ingredients to avoid to a ‘dirty dozen.’

1. Artificial colours: These are derived from coal tar. They are listed as FD&C colours with names like ‘red 28 lake.’ Implicated in asthma, eczema, headaches and other allergy symptoms.

2. Dibutyl pthalate: Found in all persons tested. Highest levels are found in women of reproductive age. It is used in cosmetics to assist the absorption of other ingredients, but interferes with our reproductive systems.

3. Formaldehyde: A preservative used in many cosmetics. This ingredient causes skin reactions and contact dermatitis. Often listed as imidazolidinyl urea, DMDM hydantoin quaternium 15, diazolidinylurea, 2-bromo-2- nitropropane-1 or 3-diol.

4. Fragrance: Can contain up to 200 undeclared substances and is a major cause of skin irritations and allergies. It may also cause dizziness, skin irritation and hyper-pigmentation.

5. Alcohol: This ingredient is used as a preservative, but it dries out the skin and hair.

6. Parabens: Petroleum products that trigger skin irritations and may be xerestrogens. They also may play a role in falling sperm counts and rising breast cancer rates. They're used in 99 percent of all cosmetics and in many natural products.

7. Parrafin: Derived from petroleum, this ingredient is used in the form of wax, mineral oil or petrolatum, however it is comedogenic (it blocks pores).

8. Sodium laureth/lauryl sulfate: Forms carcinogenic nitrogen compounds when combined with other cosmetics. It is also irritating to eyes, skin and lungs and has been implicated in hair loss, especially in women.

9. Toluene: Found in many nail products and nail polish removers. Produced during the process of making gasoline and other fuels from crude oil or coal. This ingredient may affect the nervous system, and/or cause tiredness, confusion, weakness, nausea or loss of appetite.

10. Aluminum: Thought to contribute to Alzheimer’s disease. Found in almost all antiperspirants and colour cosmetics like lipstick.

11. Silica: A white or colourless crystalline compound, found as quartz, sand, flint, agate and many other minerals. It’s used to manufacture a wide variety of materials, especially glass and concrete.

12. Nanoparticles: Used in colour cosmetics and sunscreens. Often called ‘micronized minerals’ and are photo-toxic. These particles embed themselves in the superficial layers of the skin and become ‘excited’ with ultraviolet radiation, causing DNA mutations. They have been implicated in skin cancer.

There are many products available that don’t contain these ‘dirty’ ingredients. A good quality jojoba oil works as a night time face treatment, hand moisturizer and hair de-frizzer, all in one! Take this list with you the next time you need a cosmetic...because you deserve the healthiest, cleanest cosmetics available!

http://www.tonictoronto.com/magazine/articles/the-dirty-dozen.html


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Related Link:

Drugs in the Environment: Do Pharmaceutical Take-Back Programs Make a Difference?
http://ehp03.niehs.nih.gov/article/fetchArticle.action?articleURI=info%3Adoi%2F10.1289%2Fehp.118-a210

Does Fructose Really Cause Cancer?
http://www.bewellbuzz.com/experts/does-fructose-really-cause-cancer/

On July 21st, the release of The Story of Cosmetics will expose the $50 billion cosmetics industry's use of toxic chemicals in everything from lipstick to baby shampoo-even chemicals linked to cancer and birth defects. The truth is, for way too long the onus has been on you and me to figure out if a product is safe, whether it's shampoo, or a kid's toy or that new laptop. Isn't it time we put the onus back where it belongs: on the companies who make this stuff?

You can help spread the word about the movie by forwarding the 30-second teaser to your friends, family, neighbors and colleagues. Thanks for everything you do to make the world a better place!

Sneak Preview -- http://storyofstuff.org/cosmetics/

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Related Link:

Campaign for Safe Cosmetics
http://community.livejournal.com/sustainable_sos/tag/campaign%20for%20safe%20cosmetics

Eco-Talk@AM Radio1540

Broadcasting Time: Mon April 19 - Fri April 23 @13:00-13:15
Hosts: Leslie Yip with Guest Speaker Vanessa Kam (aka Sammi)

Be in the know! Starting Monday April 19th, tune in at 1pm after the news for a special 5-part series to commemorate the 40th Earth Day Celebration on April 22nd. Get the latest scoop about many environmental issues and practical tips & solutions you can do on a daily basis to improve your health, environment while saving money!

Listen Online: http://www.ccue.ca/toronto/radio

Guest Speaker's Profile:
http://www.creatingourparadise.org/pages/about

Toys made in China aren’t the only products laced with dangerous heavy metals. Lipsticks manufactured in the United States and used daily by millions of American women also contain surprisingly high levels of lead, according to new product tests released October 11, 2007 by the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics. An independent laboratory conducted the lead tests in September 2007 on red lipsticks bought in Boston, Hartford, Conn., San Francisco and Minneapolis. Among the findings:

More than half of 33 brand‐name lipsticks tested (61 percent) contained detectable levels of lead, with levels ranging from 0.03 to 0.65 parts per million (ppm). None of these lipsticks listed lead as an ingredient.

• One‐third of the tested lipsticks exceeded the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s 0.1 ppm limit for lead in candy –a standard established to protect children from directly ingesting lead. Lipstick, like candy, is ingested directly. Nevertheless, the FDA has not set a limit for lead in lipstick –which fits with the disturbing absence of FDA regulatory oversight and enforcement capacity for the $50 billion personal care products industry.

Among the top brands testing positive for lead were:
• L’Oreal Colour Riche “True Red” – 0.65 ppm
• L’Oreal Colour Riche “Classic Wine” – 0.58 ppm
• Cover Girl Incredifull Lipcolor “Maximum Red” – 0.56 ppm
• Christian Dior Addict “Positive Red” – 0.21 ppm

Lead is a proven neurotoxin that can cause learning, language and behavioral problems such as lowered IQ, reduced school performance and increased aggression. Pregnant women and young children are particularly vulnerable to lead exposure because lead easily crosses the placenta and may enter the fetal brain, where it interferes with normal development. Lead has also been linked to miscarriage, reduced fertility in both men and women, hormonal changes, menstrual irregularities and delays in the onset of puberty. Lead builds up in the body over time and lead‐containing lipstick applied several times a day, every day, combined with lead in water and other sources, could add up to significant exposure levels.

The laboratory results show that lead in lipstick is an unnecessary and avoidable problem. Thirteen of the lipsticks tested (39 percent) had no detectable levels of lead. The results also show that the more expensive brands are not necessarily safer: Dior Addict, one of the most contaminated samples, sells for $24.50 a tube, while the Revlon lipstick that contained no detectable lead retails for $7.49.

The Campaign for Safe Cosmetics is calling on cosmetics companies to test their full product lines for lead, to reformulate immediately products found to contain lead, to require from suppliers a guarantee that raw materials are free of lead and other contaminants, and to join the Campaign for Safe Cosmetics in demanding that the FDA more strictly regulate personal care products.

To read the complete article, please visit:

http://groups.google.ca/group/sustainable_sos/files
"A Poison Kiss Report (Campaign for Safe Cosmetics)"
"Healing & Harmful Cosmetics Ingredients A to Z"

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Related Links:

The Ugly Side of Cosmetics
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/article/ugly-side-cosmetics

The Best Cream for Your Skin & the Planet
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/article/green-living-tested-anti-aging-creams

Leaded Lipsticks
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/article/leaded-lipstick

Brush-up Naturally
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/article/brush-naturally

Cleaning Green: Make Your Own Natural Cleaning Products
http://www.livinggreenmag.com/archives/natural_home_garden/cleaning_green.html

Safeguarding Your Baby: Why you Should Make the Switch to Green Baby Lotions
http://www.greenlivingonline.com/article/safeguarding-your-baby