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Meng Xiong Prof. Ingram Eng1102-01 3 April 2013 Is Good Looking Skin a Healthy Skin? Do you have a healthy skin? Most responses would be yes, but I can assure you that most of us do not have healthy skin. Even though a persons skin looks healthy, smooth, or soft to the eyes, it is not healthy when it is studied at the molecular level. Most young people in society today are being exposed to chemicals that could potentially do harm to the skin. Young people are increasing their chances of getting cancer by doing harm to their skin without realizing it. Alcohol, sun tanning, and not using sunscreen use are just some of the many examples that could do harm to the skin. Even though sunlight and some chemicals in sunscreens are bad for our skin, a combination of both could be beneficial and help to keep skin healthy. We as young people are consuming high amount of alcohol legally and illegally in society today without knowing about its potential effects. For men, the maximum alcohol beverage consume per week should be below fourteen drinks and women should be below seven. Most young people are drinking to have fun and are not aware that alcohol is damaging their skin. Alcohol consumption reduces the amount of antioxidants such as vitamin A and E in your skin (Patzelt). Antioxidants help to keep your skin healthy and protect it from free radicals, which are believed to contribute to certain chronic diseases and play a role in the aging processes, so that the skin can perform its proper functions (Evert). Without antioxidants, skin would not feel smooth or soft looking and would be vulnerable to diseases from bacteria and viruses. Did you know that the oil and sweat that are secreted into the outer surface of the skin by

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the glands in the skin contain an enzyme called lysozyme to digest the cell wall of the bacteria so that they cannot colonized on your skin (Watkins)? Without these enzymes people would get sick more frequently and easily. High levels of alcohol consumptions are putting people at risk by destroying antioxidants in their skin. Not only does alcohol interfere with the skins function, alcohol also increases the risk of getting skin cancer (Patzelt). With alcohol consumption greatly reducing the amount of antioxidants, the skin is more vulnerable for the harmful ultraviolet lights A and B rays when exposed to the sunlight (Patzelt). The penetration of harmful sunlight rays through the skin damages the DNA of the cells. When cells divide to make more cells to replace dead skin, the damage is passed on to the daughter cells. Damaging cells could lead to uncontrolled division of cells that could lead to cancer. Did you know that skin cancer is the most common form of cancer in the United States (Skin Cancer Foundation)? More than two million people are treated with basal and squamous cancer cell every year and more than 68,000 with melanoma, which is the most deadly form (Harris). Alcohol consumption is putting you at risk for cancer and shortening your life span greatly. Thousands of people are using the tanning bed or lying out to sun tan every day. As stated by the American Skin Association, There is no such thing as a healthy or safe tan (Sun Safety). Even if you are alcohol free, the harmful sunlight could still penetrate through the skin but at a slower rate. Whether its outside in the sun or in the sunbed, the energy source used to make your skin turn tan is ultraviolet radiation. Do you ever wonder why the skin is turning tan when you are exposed to sunlight or the tanning bed? The skin turns tan because the melanocytes react to the attack of the ultraviolet light by producing more melanin. The production of melanin causes the skin to become tan over time (Sun Safety). As the skin produces more melanin to

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react against exposure to UVB rays, the DNA of the melanocytes gets damage, and it could become cancer cell, which will then divide continuously without regulation (Sun Safety). Tanning increase your chances of getting cancer regardless of whether it comes from the sun or a sunbed. As a response to the harmful ultraviolet lights A and B, we used sunscreen. Sunscreens are intended to block out the ultraviolet light A and B as much as possible so that it does not damage our skin. However, did you know that sunscreen contains chemicals that could potentially put you in risk? Studies have been done on Oxybenzone, an active chemical used in some products of sunscreens, and concluded that it can do potential harm to the skin. If enough Oxybenzone is absorbed by the skin, it can increase your chance of getting cancer as well as increasing the aging process (Don). With todays sunscreen product the chance that your skin will absorb a lot of Oxybenzone is likely because in order to get the protection stated on the product you have to reapply according to the direction on the sunscreen bottle. For instances, in order to get the sun protection stated on the Brand X sunscreen with a SPF of 15, one must apply it fifteen minutes prior to sun exposure and reapply every forty minutes after swimming or sweating, or every two hours. The more frequently the sunscreen is applied to the skin, the greater the chance that your skin will absorb the chemicals. Oxybenzone is dangerous to the skin. Not only that, but also studies by the U.S. Preventive Task force have shown that Oxybenzone is also a danger to the environment. Oxybenzone interrupted hormone production causing fish to change gender and killing coral reefs (Don). Millions of people are using sunscreens and with a large amount of Oxybenzone being released into the ocean or rivers every year, the fish and coral reefs in the ocean are in danger. Oxybenzone should be avoided as much as possible because it is a dangerous chemical that could do harm to both our skin and the environment.

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Octocrylene and Avobenzone are also chemicals that could be harmful to the skin. The main function of Octocrylene is to protect other ultraviolet absorbers such as Avobenzone, which is unstable when exposed to sunlight, from breaking down and boost their performance (Brain). However, studies have shown that Octocrylene may promote the generation of potential harmful free radical when exposed to sunlight (Brain). Free radicals could potentially cause damage to the DNA of the cell, which could lead to cancer. Both Octocrylene and Avobenzone could also cause irritation on skin for certain people. Avobenzone is also absorbed into the skin and shown in urine. Avobenzone tends to act like estrogen and disrupt other hormones. Therefore I would recommend that young people such as ourselves and pregnant women should avoid the use of both Octocrylene and Avobenzone (Brain). Even though Octocrylene makes Avobenzone more stable, both chemicals are harmful to the skin as well as the overall health of our body, especially younger children. As presented in this research, alcohol, sunscreens and ultraviolet lights A and B have been proven to be harmful to the skin. One must limit his/her alcohol intake to as low as possible and consume foods that are rich in antioxidants. What should we do since both sunlight and sunscreens are harmful to our skin? I recommend that you research and make a choice for yourself. However, as a long researcher on this topic, I would recommend that you use a combination of both since neither is good. I recommend that if you do use sunscreen that you use sunscreen with sun protective factor (SPF) of 15 to 30 and avoid any sunscreens with Oxybenzone, Octocrylene, and Avobenzone as much as possible. Also, use sunscreen that contains titanium oxide and zinc oxide rather than any other chemicals that are used as active ingredients for sunscreens because titanium oxide and zinc oxide are relatively safer than other chemicals. However, do not apply sunscreen on to your skin until you have been out in the sun

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for about twenty or thirty minutes. This would allow your body to capture the sunlight necessary to make vitamin D to help fight free radicals and maintain a healthy skin so that it can perform its proper functions. According to Mayor Clinic, vitamin D also helps maintain the level of calcium and phosphorus in the blood. Without vitamin D, your bones would not be healthy and strong. Vitamin D is what increases the bone minerals in bone and decreases fracture. Vitamin D is essential to both the skin and the bones. Therefore a combination of both sunlight and sunscreen would benefit your skin more than just using sunscreen alone or not use sunscreen at all. There are still a lot of active ingredients that are in sunscreens that are still debatable. I encourage everyone, especially young people, to look into the active ingredients of sunscreens before buying or using because the use of chemicals would likely accumulate and increase your chances of getting cancer as time go by.

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Works Cited

Patzelt, et al. "Alcohol Consumption Decreases The Protection Efficiency Of The Antioxidant Network And Increases The Risk Of Sunburn In Human Skin." Skin Pharmacology & Physiology 26.1 (2012): 45-51. Academic Search Complete. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

Bloomberg, Michael. NYC Health. How Much Is Too Much?. New York: , 2010. Web.

Brain, Left. Is Octocrylene A Safe Sunscreen?. N.p., 29 May 2011. Web. Web. 2 Apr. 2013.

Don, Mamie Swiger K L. SPF Zero Chemical Sunscreen Exposed. eBookIt.com, 2011. 1-54. Web. 2 Apr 2013. Evert, Alison. "MedlinePlus." Vitamin A. N.p., 18 Feb 2013. Web. 2 Apr 2013. Mayo Clinic. Vitamin D. 2012. Web. "Skin Cancer Foundation." Skin Cancer Facts. N.p., 12 Feb 2013. Web. 2 Apr 2013. Sun Safety. American Skin Association. 2012. Web.15 February 2013 Watkins, Jean. "Skin Rashes, Part 1: Skin Structure And Taking A Dermatological History." Practice Nursing 24.1 (2013): 30-33. CINAHL Plus with Full Text. Web. 26 Feb. 2013.