Mineral Sunscreen Without White Cast: Does It Exist?

• Oxybenzone - A known endocrine disruptor, which has been linked to the a higher risk of breast cancer and endometriosis, has recently been discovered as permeating the body deeper than originally thought and causing a higher systemic exposure, which makes it the most concerning ingredient on this list. But that doesn't make the other ones best choices either.
  

• Octinoxate - "Animal studies have shown the chemical has hormone effects on the metabolic system and affects thyroid hormone production (Seidlova-Wuttke 2006), with some evidence for other endocrine targets, including androgen and progesterone signaling (Krause 2012). Octinoxate can also cause allergic reactions after exposure to ultraviolet light (Rodriguez 2006)." Source: EWG.org
  

• Homosalate - Although the FDA allows the concentrations of up to 15% in sunscreens, the European Commission has found it to only be safe with up to 1.4% concentrations, citing toxic breakdown in the skin over time and endocrine disruption at high concentrations.
  

• Avobenzone - This unstable ingredient has to have other ingredients to stabilize it. It has been found that it can disrupt the endocrine system and has been shown to block the effects of testosterone in cellular studies (Klopcic 2017).
  

• Octocrylene - Humans are not the only ones with potential damage from such ingredients. Octocrylene has shown to play a role in aquatic toxicity, presenting a danger to coral reefs. The big concerns for humans is that this ingredient is often mixed with known carcinogen (can cause cancer) benzophenone, it has shown to be an endocrine disruptor and it has a high rate of causing allergies.
  

• Octisalate - The FDA determined that there is insufficient data to call this ingredient safe or not, with its  main concern of it being an allergen.

Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide are the only two ingredients in sunscreens marked as "safe" by the FDA. Since they stay on the skin without entering it, they do not cause systemic exposure and therefore do not cause damage such as endocrine disruption. 

While these are two safe active ingredients, it is important to check the rest of the list! Damaging preservatives and other unsavory ingredients could be hiding.

Both are safe, but they vary a bit in effectiveness. Zinc Oxide is a broad spectrum mineral sunscreen that protects from both, short and long UV-A and UV-B rays. Titanium dioxide, however, is effective at blocking UV-B and short-wave UV-A rays, but it is not as effective against long UV-A rays.