Damned If You Do

There's a good chance that the sunscreen we're using contains ingredients harmful to our health. Retinyl palmitate, a form of Vitamin A that also appears in cosmetics products, could be increasing our risk for skin cancer when exposed to the sun. Oxybenzone, which I found in my favorite sunscreen, has been shown to penetrate the skin and may disrupt the endocrine system. Nanoparticles of zinc oxide, long used to coat the noses of lifeguards, may also penetrate the body and cause damage linked to cancer.

All of this and more from Michael Hansen, a senior scientist with Consumers Union, and other analysts and dermatologists in a recent New York Times commentary.

Of course, if you don't use sunscreen, you increase your risk for skin cancer. And if you don't get out in the sun, you don't get enough Vitamin D. Round and round we go.

A similar scenario presented itself on Tuesday's Diane Rehm Show. The discussion of battery-operated cars and their promise to eliminate oil dependency turned on itself when a listener questioned the energy source. If we use coal to power these cars, he noted, we're damaging our environment in yet another way. Harnessing sun and wind power for electricity would create energy-efficient cars, but for now, these are expensive and lie somewhere off in the distance for Americans.

That "somewhere off in the distance" usually has to do with money. Cosmetics and sunscreen companies are making lots of money promoting questionable products. Oil and coal companies continue to grow rich as they degrade the environment. Powerful lobbyists see to it that we consume goods that aren't good for us.

Our consumerist culture has come full circle. Damned if we do and damned if we don't.