Take action: Sign our sunscreen petition to the FDA

Dear Readers,

In 1978, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration began to develop its first-ever sunscreen safety regulations. Thirty-three years later, the job still isn't done. That's outrageous.

The FDA hasn't protected us from the sunscreen industry's false claims or use of potentially hazardous ingredients. But we know you care, which is why EWG has just released its fifth annual Sunscreen Guide. You should have the best information possible to help you choose products that will protect you and your family from burns and skin cancer and keep you safer in the sun.

Since there are no regulations, the industry doesn't have to verify that its sunscreens work or provide adequate UVA protection or even check their "waterproof" claims.

I need you to stand with me today in telling the FDA that it's more than time to implement the proposed regulations. Please join us by midnight June 9 -- before we deliver your signatures to the FDA!

Click here to sign EWG Action Fund's petition demanding the FDA implement its proposed sunscreen regulations and keep dangerous products from making it onto store shelves.

In 2007, the FDA released its most recent version of the proposed sunscreen regulations, but they have yet to be implemented. While the FDA has been dragging its feet, you and your family are being left out to be burned. EWG's analysis of more than 500 beach and sport sunscreens with SPF ratings of 30 and higher finds that about 60 percent provide inadequate UVA protection.

Many sunscreen makers still lace their products with a form of vitamin A called retinyl palmitate, ignoring recent research by the FDA indicating that the chemical speeds up the growth of tumors and lesions when used on sun-exposed skin.

There's more bad news. Nearly one in six beach and sport sunscreens claim SPFs higher than 50+. But studies show that high-SPF users are exposed to as much or more UV rays than people who use lower SPF products. Why? Those big numbers give people a false sense of security. They wait too long before reapplying and stay out too long.

This is unacceptable. The FDA began taking steps -- 33 years ago! -- to get the sunscreen industry under control. It is more than time for the agency to finish what it started. Stand with me today, and with the EWG Action Fund, if you want safer, better sunscreens on the market.

Click here to sign EWG Action Fund's petition before June 9 and demand that the FDA release its sunscreen regulations. Thirty-three years is too long to wait.

Thank you for standing with us,

Ken Cook
President, EWG Action Fund