There’s been a huge increase in social media posts about how: “The sun doesn’t cause skin cancer” “Sunscreen doesn’t prevent skin cancer” “Sunscreen causes skin cancer” I’ve been asked by more than one person in real life: “How do I explain to someone that it’s not sunscreen, it’s the sun, it’s obviously the freaking sun?” Here’s a summary of the …
Sunscreen use is increasing, but skin cancer rates are also rising. Does that mean sunscreen doesn’t work, or – even worse – sunscreen might cause skin cancer? This was one of the common sunscreen myths I debunked in this video. Here’s one example, from @TonicHealth on TikTok: “Why is nobody talking about this? All these sunscreens are not doing the …
I’ve become a bit of an airborne transmission nerd during the pandemic. Every once in a while I’ll share some of the tools I use on social media, and I’ve realised quite a lot of other people are also interested in how to not get sick, or at least get sick less, outside of getting vaccinated. So here’s a quick …
Is synthetic braiding hair giving people cancer? In February 2025, Consumer Reports announced that they had found carcinogens in all 10 products of artificial braiding hair they tested. They claimed this was putting the health of wearers and braiders at risk. But is this actually true, or is it fearmongering? Here’s the video version – keep scrolling for the article. Overblown …
There’s been a few viral posts about how harmful chemical sunscreens are. The latest one is a post about “Sunscreen Swaps” from @a.glimpse.of.amelia (an Australian “low-tox” consultant) and @jordiepieface (a nutritionist from New Zealand), claiming that “some conventional sunscreens can do more harm than good”. Unfortunately, most of the post is inaccurate, and it’s likely scaring people away from using …
There’s been a lot of stories about benzene contamination in personal care products over the last 4 years. This year, benzene was discovered in benzoyl peroxide, a staple acne treatment. How concerned should we be? Petition and original paper I’ve written about the background behind Valisure’s benzene analyses before, as well as questions about the accuracy of their data and …
Bobby Parrish, a home cook and food influencer who goes by the name FlavCity, has made a number of viral TikTok videos recently about dangerous personal care ingredients. As you might expect, there’s quite a lot of misinformation in them. I debunked a couple of them in a recent YouTube video, along with some other TikTok videos – you can …
There’s been a lot of fearmongering about chemical sunscreens. There were scary-sounding new stories – sunscreen absorbing into blood, killing coral reefs, zinc oxide being toxic, benzene in sunscreens… Related Post: Top 7 Sunscreen and SPF Myths I’ve covered most of these before, and they’re largely just the media taking things out of context and sensationalising them, partly for views, …