Of the sunscreens in our new Ratings, two may be better choices for children and pregnant women. One is a Coppertone lotion, the other an Equate sunscreen sold in Walmart. Here's why they make good options.
They are lotions, not sprays. Our experts recommend that you avoid using spray sunscreens on children, at least until the Food and Drug Administration completes an ongoing study of the risks of inhaling spray sunscreens.
They don't contain nanoparticles. The sunscreen ingredients titanium dioxide and zinc oxide can contain nanoparticles, which have been linked to reproductive and developmental effects in animal studies.
They lack retinol or retinyl palmitate. Those ingredients, also known as retinoids, are chemically similar to ingredients found in certain oral acne medications, which may be associated with birth defects. So as a precaution, pregnant women might want to choose a sunscreen without the ingredients.
For details on the two products, both of which also scored well in their ability to protect against UVA and UVB radiation, see our sunscreen buying guide and Ratings. And don't forget that when it comes to protecting your skin and helping prevent skin cancer, any sunscreen is better than no sunscreen at all.