More than one million people will be diagnosed with skin cancer this year, and while studies have shown that sunscreen use can prevent cancer and skin damage, is your sunscreen as effective as you think it is? 7Healthcast reporter Dr. Deanna Lites has more on some super sunscreens that the experts say are even better.
It's summer, and we're spending a lot more time outdoors these days soaking up the sun, but too much sun can be dangerous, so we're constantly reminded to use sunscreen to keep the sun's harmful rays away.
Now, some new super-sunscreens claim they can protect you better than ever before. It's thanks to a filter called "mexoryl."
"They're finding that it's the best sunblocker out there," Dr. Thomas Roher of Skin Care Physicians of Chestnut Hill said.
So if this sunscreen is supposed to be so great for your skin, you'll want to get some right? We'll don't expect to find it in this country, because it's illegal.
"Mexoryl is an ingredient that is not yet approved by the FDA here in the U.S," Dr. Roher said.
Mexoryl s-x is made by skin-care giant Loreal and it can be found in sunscreens in Europe and Canada. The potent ingredient blocks ultraviolet-a rays that can play a role in aging.
"It certainty breaks down the skin, breaks down the elastic component in the skin," Dr. Rohrer said.
Doctor Rohrer said many people aren't as aware of UV-a rays.
"UV-a is also a form of radiation from the sun like UV-b, people are aware of the UV-b, it's what burns our skin and that's what the SPF has been set up for," Dr. Roher said.
And he said while sunscreens made in the U.S. are effective, many don't protect as well against that potentially damaging UV-a.
"UV-a is a longer wavelength of light that penetrates deeper in to the skin and therefore can play a role in skin cancer," Dr. Roher said.
The word about mexoryl is getting out. On the website getcanadiandrugs.com, many sunscreens containing mexoryl are out of stock.
On ebay, two three-ounce bottles of this sunscreen with mexoryl in it will cost you about $46 plus shipping. One seller is from Madrid, Spain.
"I think mexoryl is going to be revolutionary," Dr. Roher said.
The FDA is looking at mexoryl, but approval can take a long time.
"I think it should be a higher priority because skin cancer right now is in epidemic proportions," Dr. Roher said.
So for now, your sunscreen will have to do, but dermatologists and others hope this super-sunscreen will be available here soon.
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