Little Action After Lots of Green TalkIn Search of Quiet PlacesUnderground Diner Supports Local FarmersEmotions Run High Over Dam Removal QuestionsInvasive Species and Toxic ChemicalsSelling Asian Carp to ChinaOil Spill Creates Manufacturing BoomSunscreen Concerns & Low Vitamin D
Host: Lester Graham
Show date: 09/02/2009
Summary:
Buy a tube of sunscreen, slather
some on, and you're good to go -
right? Well, Lester talks with one
group that says not all sunscreens
are created equal.
And... turns out, partly because of
avoiding the sun, we all might be
falling a little short in the Vitamin
D department. Ann Dornfeld looks
at what we need to do to remedy the
problem.
More…
Labor Day weekend… a chance for some sun.
This is the Environment Report… I’m Lester Graham.
Backyard grilling… maybe some time at the beach… the last holiday of summer usually includes a lot of time outside. With all the concern about harmful rays from the sun… sunscreen seems like a good idea.
But the Environmental Working Group issued a report saying not all sunscreens are the equal. The environmental group is critical of the government’s Food and Drug Administration for not requiring the makers of sunscreen to filter for one kind of solar radiation.
“There currently are no requirements for UVA filters in sunscreens. And they’ve been working on sunscreen standards since 1978.”
David Andrews is a senior scientist with the group. He’s says the industry has taken advantage of the situation, making unverified statements about how well sunscreens protect you from the sun.
“So these are claims that are very misleading to the consumer and it makes it hard for everyone to get adequate protection.”
The Personal Care Products Council is a trade group for makers of sunscreens. In a statement it says the Environmental Working Group’s report is –quote—“unscientific and unsubstantiated.”
Bottom line… look for a sunscreen that protects you from both UVB and UVA rays… reapply often… and stay out of the sun as much as possible.
(((STING)))
This is The Environment Report.
According to two recent studies, most kids in this country aren't getting enough Vitamin D. Scientists say a lot of adults are low in the vitamin, too. Partly because we don’t get as much Vitamin D from the sun… cause of concerns about those harmful rays. Ann Dornfeld looks at what can be done.
###
[Ambi: kids building sandcastles on the beach]
If you've been to the beach this summer, or anywhere outdoors, you probably slathered on the obligatory sunblock. If you were extra- careful, you wore a wide-brimmed hat, or made sure your kids wore t- shirts in the water instead of a skimpy suit. Thing is, the solar radiation you work so hard to avoid is also kind of healthy. That's because it creates Vitamin D through a chemical reaction in your skin.
Susan Ott: "Vitamin D is essential." [:02]
Susan Ott is a professor of medicine at the University of Washington.
Susan Ott: "It's actually a steroid hormone that helps you absorb
calcium from your diet. And it works in your intestines so the calcium can get into your system and become available to the bones." [:12]
Ott specializes in bone diseases like osteoporosis and osteomalacia - both diseases that Vitamin D helps prevent.
When you slather on sunblock, you're also blocking the creation of Vitamin D.
Before you run outside to soak up the last few rays of summer unprotected, there's a catch. Ott says no one knows how much sun you need to get enough Vitamin D. It depends on where you live, the time of year, how much skin you're exposing - and even the color of your skin.
Susan Ott: "People with dark skin do not make as much Vitamin D with
the same amount of sunlight exposure - they need to be out in the sunlight longer to get the same amount of Vitamin D as a fair person." [:12]
Seattle Children's Hospital Nutritionist Kim Nowak-Cooperman says a recent study of people who live in Honolulu showed that scientists have a lot to learn about how the skin absorbs Vitamin D.
Kim Nowak-Cooperman: "They looked at 93 people who got three or more
hours of sun every day for five days a week. And they actually found that half of those people were Vitamin D insufficient, when you would think that they would be very, very high in Vitamin D." [:15]
Getting your Vitamin D from food can also be hard. It's naturally abundant only in oily fish like sardines, salmon and mackerel. Since the 1930s, Vitamin D has been added to milk to prevent the bone- softening disease rickets in children. Now rickets is making a comeback. Nowak-Cooperman says that's because most kids don't drink enough milk to get the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin D. And that RDA might not even be enough.
Kim Nowak-Cooperman: "Originally that number was derived from the
amount of Vitamin D that would prevent rickets. We are now seeing that Vitamin D has a more important role and that the insufficiency of Vitamin D can be implicated in other disease processes." [:17]
Studies show Vitamin D may prevent everything from rheumatoid arthritis to diabetes to tuberculosis. So the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends kids get twice the US RDA for Vitamin D.
That means 400 milligrams from either four glasses of milk or a supplement.
Professor Susan Ott says adults should take a supplement, too. She recommends 800 to 1000 milligrams. Any more than that, she says, and you risk absorbing too much calcium.
Susan Ott: "I think right now there's a fad and people are taking too
much. I just went to the drugstore the other day and I saw pills that were 5000 units. That's enough to last you a week! And I have patients that are taking that every day. I'm worried they're gonna get kidney stones." [:16]
Ott says there's also a trend for people to get blood tests to determine whether they're getting enough Vitamin D. She says unless you're elderly or have other serious health problems, it probably isn't necessary.
So just pop that daily supplement - and keep slathering on the sunblock.
For the Environment Report, I'm Ann Dornfeld.
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This is the Environment Report… I’m Lester Graham.
Backyard grilling… maybe some time at the beach… the last holiday of summer usually includes a lot of time outside. With all the concern about harmful rays from the sun… sunscreen seems like a good idea.
But the Environmental Working Group issued a report saying not all sunscreens are the equal. The environmental group is critical of the government’s Food and Drug Administration for not requiring the makers of sunscreen to filter for one kind of solar radiation.
“There currently are no requirements for UVA filters in sunscreens. And they’ve been working on sunscreen standards since 1978.”
David Andrews is a senior scientist with the group. He’s says the industry has taken advantage of the situation, making unverified statements about how well sunscreens protect you from the sun.
“So these are claims that are very misleading to the consumer and it makes it hard for everyone to get adequate protection.”
The Personal Care Products Council is a trade group for makers of sunscreens. In a statement it says the Environmental Working Group’s report is –quote—“unscientific and unsubstantiated.”
Bottom line… look for a sunscreen that protects you from both UVB and UVA rays… reapply often… and stay out of the sun as much as possible.
(((STING)))
This is The Environment Report.
According to two recent studies, most kids in this country aren't getting enough Vitamin D. Scientists say a lot of adults are low in the vitamin, too. Partly because we don’t get as much Vitamin D from the sun… cause of concerns about those harmful rays. Ann Dornfeld looks at what can be done.
###
[Ambi: kids building sandcastles on the beach]
If you've been to the beach this summer, or anywhere outdoors, you probably slathered on the obligatory sunblock. If you were extra- careful, you wore a wide-brimmed hat, or made sure your kids wore t- shirts in the water instead of a skimpy suit. Thing is, the solar radiation you work so hard to avoid is also kind of healthy. That's because it creates Vitamin D through a chemical reaction in your skin.
Susan Ott: "Vitamin D is essential." [:02]
Susan Ott is a professor of medicine at the University of Washington.
Susan Ott: "It's actually a steroid hormone that helps you absorb
calcium from your diet. And it works in your intestines so the calcium can get into your system and become available to the bones." [:12]
Ott specializes in bone diseases like osteoporosis and osteomalacia - both diseases that Vitamin D helps prevent.
When you slather on sunblock, you're also blocking the creation of Vitamin D.
Before you run outside to soak up the last few rays of summer unprotected, there's a catch. Ott says no one knows how much sun you need to get enough Vitamin D. It depends on where you live, the time of year, how much skin you're exposing - and even the color of your skin.
Susan Ott: "People with dark skin do not make as much Vitamin D with
the same amount of sunlight exposure - they need to be out in the sunlight longer to get the same amount of Vitamin D as a fair person." [:12]
Seattle Children's Hospital Nutritionist Kim Nowak-Cooperman says a recent study of people who live in Honolulu showed that scientists have a lot to learn about how the skin absorbs Vitamin D.
Kim Nowak-Cooperman: "They looked at 93 people who got three or more
hours of sun every day for five days a week. And they actually found that half of those people were Vitamin D insufficient, when you would think that they would be very, very high in Vitamin D." [:15]
Getting your Vitamin D from food can also be hard. It's naturally abundant only in oily fish like sardines, salmon and mackerel. Since the 1930s, Vitamin D has been added to milk to prevent the bone- softening disease rickets in children. Now rickets is making a comeback. Nowak-Cooperman says that's because most kids don't drink enough milk to get the recommended daily allowance of Vitamin D. And that RDA might not even be enough.
Kim Nowak-Cooperman: "Originally that number was derived from the
amount of Vitamin D that would prevent rickets. We are now seeing that Vitamin D has a more important role and that the insufficiency of Vitamin D can be implicated in other disease processes." [:17]
Studies show Vitamin D may prevent everything from rheumatoid arthritis to diabetes to tuberculosis. So the American Academy of Pediatrics now recommends kids get twice the US RDA for Vitamin D.
That means 400 milligrams from either four glasses of milk or a supplement.
Professor Susan Ott says adults should take a supplement, too. She recommends 800 to 1000 milligrams. Any more than that, she says, and you risk absorbing too much calcium.
Susan Ott: "I think right now there's a fad and people are taking too
much. I just went to the drugstore the other day and I saw pills that were 5000 units. That's enough to last you a week! And I have patients that are taking that every day. I'm worried they're gonna get kidney stones." [:16]
Ott says there's also a trend for people to get blood tests to determine whether they're getting enough Vitamin D. She says unless you're elderly or have other serious health problems, it probably isn't necessary.
So just pop that daily supplement - and keep slathering on the sunblock.
For the Environment Report, I'm Ann Dornfeld.