The Environmental Working Group (or as the cool cats call 'em, the EWG), just published a roundup of nearly 1,000 sunscreens.  In their report, they dished on which sunscreens are tops, and which ones are flops.

Are you prepared to be freaked out?

Scary thing #1: 4 out of 5 sunblocks don't block out enough of the sun's UV rays.

And if that weren't icky enough, some of those sunscreens top off their non-working goo with chemicals that may actually prove harmful. Nice.

Scary Thing #2: Many of the brands we're all probably using may in fact be worthless. 

Brands like Coppertone, Banana Boat, and my own favorite, Neutrogena, fared pretty poorly in their tests. 

Scary Thing #3: Many common sunscreen ingredients start breaking down immediately in the sun.

Sunscreen that doesn't work in the sun, huh?  The EWG found that 48% of products on the market contain sunblocking ingredients that may be unstable alone or in combination with other lotions of sunblocks.

Scary Thing #4: Ok, actually we already know this, but sunscreen only measures UVB burn.

UVB rays are the rays that turn you red.  UVA rays are the noseeum rays that age the daylights out of your skin.  And what's worse, the FDA currently has no active plans to make sunscreen manufacturers report on their UVA efficacy.

So what should you use?  These five picks earned the highest marks from the EWG:

Keys Soap Solar Rx Therapeutic Sunblock
Trukid Sunny Days Facestick Mineral Sunscreen UVA/UVB Broad Spectrum
California Baby Sunblock Stick No Fragrance
Badger Sunscreen
Marie Veronique Skin Therapy Sun Serum

While picks like Marie Veronique and Keys cost more (ok, LOTS) more than your average sunblock,  Badger is as easy to find as heading to your local REI store.  And here in Cali, at least, California Baby can be picked up at just about any drugstore.

Excuse me.  I have some shopping to do.