Have you been keeping up? Sunscreens are a scam. Not only is that long list of unpronounceable ingredients not protecting you from the so called "harmful rays of the sun," they're actually harming you. It's kind of shocking to learn that rates of skin cancers aren't going down in sunscreen-soaked America, they are going UP … and up … at the highly undesirable rate of 3 percent per year.

Wait, it gets worse. According to the latest research by the Environmental Working Group, the D.C. based non-profit, about 85 percent of sunscreens sold in America today contain toxic or untested ingredients. The scientists who did the study call them "dangerous ingredients," and I believe them. Four out of five of the nearly 1,000 creams, lotions and gels EWG tested — including the best-selling Coppertone, Neutrogena, Banana Boat brands — don't actually protect you from most skin cancers. Instead, many of the ingredients can really make you sick; they invade your skin cells, taint your blood, disrupt your hormones and, in some people, set off hard-to-track-down allergic reactions. And they prevent your body from absorbing and producing very essential vitamin D. All that for only $10-50 a bottle.

I feel your sunburn. You have been taught to worship your sunscreen. Wear it daily, and twice on Sunday! Slather it on, a pitcherful every hour, and don't forget your babies, toddlers, tweens and teens! And reapply all day long! What you're really wearing is a false sense of security.

Here's some more dark cloud cover related to the recent sunscreen scam, or — as the headline on www.Mercola.com recently screamed: "The Disgusting Truth About Sunscreens:"

*Sunscreens are made up of tiny compounds that absorb, reflect or block ultraviolet light. All mashed up together, they create a chemical UV filter. There are alarming studies linking chemical UV filtering to hormone disruption. Disrupted hormones are unhappy hormones, creating havoc throughout your mind and body. This in formation is not printed anywhere on the label.

*Pity oxybenzone. It's been singled out by the Organic Consumers Association (www.organicconsumers.org) and others as a highly suspect ingredient in many name-brand sunscreens. I can't swear that oxybenzone is the devil, but I am suggesting you go immediately to your sunscreen drawer and start reading those labels. Have a big trashcan handy.

*The Environmental Working Group website is a great way to begin your downward slide into more detailed and depressing news about the sunscreen industry. You can find it at www.EWG.org, home of the famous online" Tuna Calculator: How Much is Safe?"

*The people who think sunscreen is completely harmless and highly effective have a website, too. It is www.cosmeticsinfo.org, and you can read all about your favorite ingredients there. Bring salt. It's what's called an industry site, and reflects the thinking of the Personal Care Products Council. (Was there once a Safe Smoking Council?) There is evidence that some sunscreens can reduce the number of squamous cell carcinomas, one of three major kinds. But given all the downside, I'd rather invest in parasols.

*Mostly, the sunscreen industry sells you the illusion of safety. Think charcoal filters on Marlboros. People buy well-marketed brands that advertise high SPF and "all day protection" and "blocks all harmful rays," but in reality, those claims are unproven, while some ingredients are known to be flat out toxic and dangerous. The EWG has been asking the FDA to regulate the safety of sunscreen since 1978. For 30 years the FDA has refused, for reasons that rarely see the light of day but have everything to do with something called special interest groups. If you're all fired up about this sunscreen scam, please write your congressperson and/or the FDA.

*Check out the EWG website for a list of safest sunscreens. Their No. 1 pick — most effective, least hazardous — is something called Keys Soap Solar RX Therapeutic Sunblock SPF 30 (with zinc, not waterproof).

*Information is power. Don't be conned into buying suspect products. Investigate healthier alternatives, such as wearing protective clothing and not overexposing yourself. And most importantly, pay attention to your skin and anything that might be growing on it. Get checked over by a smart, slow-moving skin doctor twice or more a year.

ENERGY EXPRESS-O WHEN WILL WE SEE THE LIGHT?

"The American cosmetic industry works closely with the FDA to ensure the safety of all cosmetic and personal care products sold in the United States." — from the www.cosmeticsindustry.org website

Marilynn Preston — fitness expert, personal trainer and speaker on healthy lifestyle issues — is the creator of Energy Express, the longest-running syndicated fitness column in the country. She welcomes reader questions, which can be sent to MyEnergyExpress@aol.com. To find out more about Preston and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

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