“Despite being a minority, this content is influential”

With the arrival of summer and the intense sun, sunscreen becomes the star product that many people apply before leaving the house or when they go to the pool or beach to avoid getting sunburned. The problem is that in recent years we are seeing how there are voices that They call the use of sunscreen ineffectiveand the focus is on social networks that act as a great speaker to amplify videos with hoaxes over videos that show the benefits of using sunscreen based on scientific evidence.

Social networks. a study has put the focus here, since the algorithm, once again, benefits content that shows something that goes against the ‘norm’ or that feeds a hoax. To do this, the team from the University of Alberta in Canada analyzed the 971 most viewed videos on TikTok about sunscreen.

Here the data reveals that 86.8% of the videos promote the use of sunscreen, while only 6% criticize these products. Of this minority, only 1.5% affirm that it causes harm and 1.2% affirm that prevents the synthesis of vitamin D with all the problems it has behind it. However, this small critical faction is the one that generates the most interaction, garnering more likes, comments and shares. And the videos with greater rigor remain in the desert of visits.

Precision in networks. These findings coincide with other crossover research published in the journal JMIR Dermatol, which analyzed the 100 videos with the most ‘likes’ on the platform. In this case, they detected that 74% of the content has a positive attitude towards sunscreen, while only 35% of the content is accurate, compared to 6% of content that is directly inaccurate.

The problem again is that the video that fuels criticism and hoaxes without any supporting reference has a greater number of views or interactions.

Sunscreen causes cancer. It is something that we have had to hear a lot, but right now there is no link between cancer and the use of sun creams, quite the opposite. It has been clearly seen that regular use of this protection reduces the incidence of melanoma by approximately 50% and carcinoma by 40%.

The Skin Cancer Foundation emphasizes that there is no evidence that the protector causes skin cancer, a position that supports with your guides the American Academy of Dermatology.

Blocking vitamin D. Here there is also no scientific evidence that points to sunscreen blocking the absorption of vitamin D, since users who regularly use this protection maintain vitamin D levels.

The benzene. Another of the big hoaxes that has been spreading through social networks like wildfire is that the creams are contaminated with benzene. But here the reality we have is that this benzene contamination was a quality control problem in the manufacturing of specific batches, not an inherent risk in the protectors that allows us to confirm that they all have benzene in their composition.

Here the FDA noted that the measurements from Valisure, the company that detected this problem, were “much higher” than they should be. Added to this is that the company has undisclosed conflicts of interest and a history of inaccurate testing.

Solar callus. The idea of ​​”training” the skin by exposing it to the sun is a false and highly dangerous premise, since, far from protecting, it seriously damages the skin and multiplies the risk of cancer. In this way, given that UV radiation is an accumulated carcinogen, exposing yourself without protection exponentially multiplies the risk of suffering from carcinomas and melanomas.

The experts. Michelle Wong, science communicator at Lab Muffin Beauty Science, has spent years trying to debunk all the hoaxes that come out about sun protection. From this article, your opinion collection by SMC points to the following:

Health misinformation related to sunscreen represents a minority of TikTok content, especially that which does not include any positive messages about these products. Despite being a minority, this content is influential: misinformation does not have to be overwhelming to be a cause for concern, and repeated exposure increases the perception of its truthfulness among all types of audiences.

Images | BATCH by Wisconsin Hemp Scient

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