Petrified of skin cancer and worried about the aging
effects of the sun, we’ve become fanatics about slathering sunscreen on
ourselves and our children.
We’ve
also become vigilant about making sure pregnant women get enough folate, the
water-soluble B vitamin. Folate has been shown to reduce the risk of birth
defects and complications of pregnancy and childbirth.
Ironically,
one safeguard may be seriously hampering the other from doing its job.
The Problem
Norwegian
researchers have uncovered a counteractive relationship between the chemicals
in sunscreen and the body’s ability to absorb water-soluble B vitamin.
They
have hypothesized that the connection is related to the amount of UV light you
absorb and the health and longevity of your future offspring,
How Did They Discover This?
In a study published in Proceedings of the Royal Society B, a
scientific journal, researchers at Norwegian University of Science and
Technology investigated church records of nearly ten thousand people. These
records dated from 1750 to1900. What they discovered was a link between
mortality rates and solar radiation. Simply put children born in years when UV
rays were heavily concentrated lived over five years less than those born in
years with less concentrated solar activity. As well, children who were born in
geographic areas of higher UV concentration had shorter life spans. Finally,
Norwegian children whose mothers spent significant time outdoors were much less
likely to live beyond the age of two than those children in less sun-drenched
areas.
What Are the Implications?
While
further research in other sun “hot spots” is definitely required, the finding
of the research team from Norwegian University of Science and Technology has raised some red flags
for sun worshipers, parents of small children, those who use sunscreen and
those planning a family.
Cause-effect relationships have yet to be established
when examining the Norwegian research. Does the sun or the sunscreen contribute
to the degradation of vitamin B9? Or is the apparent link merely a fluke?
What scientists are prepared to say—based on the research
thus far—is that women who engage in significant amounts of sunbathing while
pregnant may be harming their unborn babies. The effects of ultraviolet
radiation and/or the effects of the chemicals in sunscreen may be having
detrimental effects on the child’s survival and may also affect the reproductive
performance of the offspring.
It appears, according to research thus far that
light-skinned people who immigrated to more tropical climates where there is an
abundance of sun lack protective skin adaptations that those born in tropical
climates possess. Scientists advise pregnant women to avoid sunbathing.