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Oops! A new study was just released that details which sunscreens work and which don't, and the results are not encouraging:

Almost half of the 500 most popular sunscreen products may actually increase the speed at which malignant cells develop and spread skin cancer because they contain vitamin A or its derivatives, according to an evaluation of those products released today.

The white goop, creams and ointments might prevent sunburn. But don't count on them to keep the ultra-violet light from destroying your skin cells and causing tumors and lesions, according to researchers at Environmental Working Group.

In their annual report to consumers on sunscreen, they say that only 39 of the 500 products they examined were considered safe and effective to use.

The most disconcerting aspect of this story is this claim:

AOL News also has learned through documents and interviews that the Food and Drug Administration has known of the potential danger for as long as a decade without alerting the public, which the FDA denies.

So is this a real threat, or some bogus story?

"There was enough evidence 10 years ago for FDA to caution consumers against the use of vitamin A in sunscreens,: Jane Houlihan, EWG's senior vice president for research told AOL News.

"FDA launched this one-year study, completed their research and now 10 years later, they say nothing about it, just silence."

On Friday, the FDA said the allegations are not true.

"We have thoroughly checked and are not aware of any studies," an FDA spokesperson told AOLNews. She said she checked with bosses throughout the agency and found no one who knew of the Vitamin A sunscreen research being done by or on behalf of the agency.

But documents from the FDA and the National Toxicology Program showed that the agency had done the research.

"Retinyl palmitate was selected by (FDA's) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition for photo-toxicity and photocarcinogenicity testing based on the increasingly widespread use of this compound in cosmetic retail products for use on sun-exposed skin," said an October 2000 report by the National Toxicology Program.

FDA's own website said the animal studies were done at its National Center for Toxicological Research in Jefferson, Ark. And it was scientists from the FDA center and NTP that posted the study data last fall.

Read on to gauge for yourself whether you're putting yourself at risk this summer. And by all means, read the list of sunscreens that EWG has studied.

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