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New Nanoparticle Sunblock Is Stronger and Safer, Scientists Say
sciencehabit writes: What's the best sunscreen? It's a question that troubles beachgoers, athletes, and scientists alike. Mark Saltzman, who falls into the last category, was so concerned by the time his third child was born that he wanted to engineer a better sunblock. "The initial goal was to make a sunblock that lasted longer," says Saltzman, a biomedical engineer at Yale University. "But as I read more about sunscreen, I became aware of people's concerns about safety." Now, he and his colleagues have unveiled the results of their research: a nanoparticle-based sunblock, which they say is longer lasting and less likely to leak into the body than traditional sunscreen.
What's wrong with titanium dioxide again?
Aren't nanoparticles toxic?
Absolutely, just like chemicals are ;-)
"Little children don't belong in the sun" is just the other side of the "let your kid burn" coin. Both are extremes, and you'd probably be doing your kid better by chilling out a bit. You are likely contributing to chemical imbalances, depression, and/or vitamin D deficiency. You could be making your kid unnaturally paranoid about minor dangers. You could be restricting critical outdoor play time. Please don't take this as insulting your parenting, I know you're doing what you feel is best, it's just that this overprotectiveness is happening more and more lately and in many instances leading to worse problems than they aim to solve (while simultaneously requiring ten times the worry and energy from the parents).
People need sunlight. On our skin, diffused/reflected into our eyes. It's absolutely necessary. Yeah, too much of it is a bad thing, so don't get too much. But too little is also bad.