{"id":1446,"date":"2026-06-18T20:08:55","date_gmt":"2026-06-18T20:08:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=1446"},"modified":"2026-06-18T20:08:55","modified_gmt":"2026-06-18T20:08:55","slug":"most-sunscreen-content-on-tiktok-is-accurate-but-its-the-misinfo-that-goes-viral","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/trustedmovinggroups.com\/?p=1446","title":{"rendered":"Most sunscreen content on TikTok is accurate, but it\u2019s the misinfo that goes viral"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Sunscreen videos are all over TikTok \u2014 but the ones that go the most viral are the ones that are packed with misinformation, a study published Thursday in the journal Plos Digital Health found. <\/p>\n

Read more South Africa keeps its World Cup hopes alive with a 1-1 draw against the Czech Republic<\/a><\/p>\n

Researchers from the University of Alberta in Canada analyzed TikTok videos with the highest views across the five most popular sunscreen-related hashtags. Although the vast majority \u2014 87% of the nearly 1,000 videos \u2014 promoted sunscreen use, the content with the highest levels of engagement were the ones that contained misinformation. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

That misinformation ranged from \u201csunburns aren\u2019t dangerous\u201d to claims that sunscreen is toxic, said lead study author Alessandro Marcon, a University of Alberta researcher who studies how health information spreads in the media. <\/p>\n

\u201cThere were specific mentions that sunscreen has a hormone-disrupting potential, it was cancer-causing, contained carcinogens, it could taint your breast milk or contain microplastics,\u201d Marcon said. <\/p>\n

Dr. Anthony Rossi, a dermatologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said, \u201cI have to spend a good amount of time in my consultation to talk about what actually is the truth: how sunscreen does actually help and how using sunscreen is not going to cause skin cancer or lead you to be vitamin D deficient.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rossi, who was not involved with the research, said sunscreen causing vitamin D deficiency is a narrative that has been rampant on social media. \u201cThere have been numerous studies that show even with regular daily use of sunscreen, you do not become vitamin D deficient,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

According to the new study, a lot of sunscreen misinformation focuses on so-called chemical sunscreens, which use chemical filters to absorb harmful ultraviolet rays. (Mineral sunscreens, on the other hand, use mineral-based filters, either titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, to block the sun\u2019s harmful rays.)<\/p>\n

\u201cThere are currently no scientific indications that any ingredient widely used in \u2018chemical\u2019 sunscreens (e.g. oxybenzone) is harmful to one\u2019s health,\u201d the researchers wrote in the study.<\/p>\n

Dr. Molly Hales, a dermatologist and researcher at the University of Chicago, said that \u201cboth chemical and mineral sunscreens\u2019 ingredients are monitored and regulated by the FDA, which means they go through rigorous safety profiling, safety testing before they\u2019re allowed to be sold, even though they are over-the-counter products.\u201d<\/p>\n

Marcon said that he understands the concern about microplastics, which are ubiquitous in daily life. However, he said, there is no indication that sunscreen exposes people at higher levels than other sources. <\/p>\n

Thursday\u2019s study is not the first indication that social media may be tainting people\u2019s views on sunscreen and sun safety.<\/p>\n

Read more A U.K. border official and a former Hong Kong cop sentenced for spying on China\u2019s behalf<\/a><\/p>\n

This year, one-third of Gen Z participants got a failing grade on the American Academy of Dermatology\u2019s annual sun safety survey. The survey attributes this knowledge gap to social media: 36% of Gen Zers surveyed said they turn to influencers as their primary source of skincare information, even as 64% said they have encountered sunscreen misinformation online. <\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

\u201cI would say 95% of the misinformation we can attribute to social media,\u201d said Dr. Marisa Garshick, a dermatologist at MDCS Dermatology in New York and an AAD fellow. \u201cWhether it is directly because people are seeing people talk about problems with sunscreen or indirectly where it\u2019s somebody\u2019s favorite influencer who\u2019s showing that they laid out in the sun for three hours and got tan lines.\u201d <\/p>\n

The ramifications are clear: Skin cancer is on the rise globally. <\/p>\n

Garshick said she\u2019s seeing more basal and squamous cell skin cancer diagnoses in her younger patients. <\/p>\n

This is \u201cjust a sign of the fact that some of that sun damage that is affecting us really does start when we\u2019re children,\u201d she said. \u201cI think that is what makes this social media situation so concerning, because this is where a lot of these teenagers are finding their information.\u201d <\/p>\n

Hales said that she often has new patients who don\u2019t realize sunscreen is needed every day. <\/p>\n

\u201cI will say a fair number of new patients that are coming to see me for their first skin check are surprised to hear that we do recommend applying daily sunscreen, including when you\u2019re not planning on maybe being out at a baseball game or on a hike or some other outdoor activity,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

Garshick said she encourages people to find the sunscreen that works best for them, whether it is a chemical or mineral product. Expanded sunscreen options will be hitting the U.S. market soon, with the recent Food and Drug Administration clearance of the globally popular UV filter bemotrizinol. <\/p>\n

\u201cThe best sunscreen is the one you will use,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

Marcon, the study author, urged social media users to be cautious when it comes to getting health information from these platforms. <\/p>\n

\u201cWhen someone has a message that\u2019s directly related to a product that they\u2019re selling, you have to be extremely cautious about what that message is,\u201d he said. \u201cAudiences should be suspicious of content that makes them feel extreme emotions, especially fear, and health-related content that appears to be promoting either fringe ideas or specific political agendas, rather than a shared consensus of scientific findings.\u201d<\/p>\n

Read more Pentagon investigation into Iran school strike being finalized<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Sunscreen videos on TikTok often go viral, but the most popular may spread misinformation, a PLOS Digital Health study found. 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