The sun is worse than the sunscreen.

No.

Back in 2019, the FDA did a study that found a few sunscreen ingredients (like oxybenzone) get absorbed into your bloodstream at levels above their threshold for further safety testing. That sounds scary, but it’s a testing threshold, not a danger threshold. There’s no evidence these levels cause harm in humans, and we have decades of real-world use to back that up.

Meanwhile, UV radiation is a proven carcinogen. Skin cancer is the most common cancer in the US. The risk of not wearing sunscreen is way higher than any theoretical risk from absorption.

If you’re still uneasy, use mineral sunscreens (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) — they sit on top of the skin. But don’t skip sunscreen over this. Your dermatologist will thank you.