Sunscreen Innovator Brian Guadagno

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Tuesday, July 12, 2011

GoLocalProv Health Team

There's nothing like 17 years as a lifeguard to teach you a thing or two about sun safety.

The point is not lost on Brian Guadagno, a Narragansett native who has made a career of being outdoors, in and out of the Bay, and saving lives all the while. Now, Guadagno has turned his energies to another form of protection: sunscreens.

And how timely. New regulations were released by the Food and Drug Administration in early June (helped in large measure by Rhode Island's own US senator, Jack Reed) that will strenuously tighten the the claims that sunscreen products can make. Required by summer of 2012, the new label regulations and standards will put claims of broad spectrum protection, use, and waterproof and water resilience, to a much more rigorous test.

Guadagno couldn't be happier. The creator of Raw Elements USA sunscreens developed a product that already fulfilled rigorous requirements, he says.

Looking for a product that suited his needs

"I set out to develop the safest, most effective sunscreen in the world," Guadagno says, inspired by a futile search for a viable product for his personal use. "Products weren't holding up," he says. Ultimately, Guadagno saw the imperative to develop a product that sat right between the needs of what he calls the "active" and "natural" consumers. He wanted "a sunscreen that was performance-driven, but gentle enough to be used in infant care."

The result is a product that Guadagno says is chemical free and utilizes all natural and organic ingredients, along with a specific form of zinc oxide forming its barrier. Raw Elements received a #1 ranking from Environmental Working Group in 2011.

But, Guadagno reminds, sunscreen is not the first line of defense against the sun and damage to the skin. 'It's the last line," he says. "No matter what you're using, it needs to be integrated into a comprehensive plan. Avoid peak hours (11am-4pm), seek shade and proper sun-protective clothing. Use sunscreen as a supplement."