Industry News
Sunscreen Concerns Escalate as Another Potential Carcinogen Found By Anna Edney
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esearchers asked U.S. regulators to pull some sunscreens from the market, including brands such as Coppertone, Banana Boat and Neutrogena, saying they’ve found evidence of a potential carcinogen. Scientists petitioned the Food and Drug Administration to remove from sale all sunscreens containing the active ingredient octocrylene. Products made with the chemical may contain benzophenone, a suspected carcinogen that also can interfere with key hormones and reproductive organs, according to a group led by Craig Downs, executive director of the nonprofit Haereticus Environmental Laboratory that studies risks to health and the environment. A trade group called the report misleading. Some 2,400 sun-protection products are made with octocrylene and “we don’t know what their safety is,” said Downs, who filed the petition Thursday. “The FDA doesn’t know what their safety is and it’s unconscionable that the FDA would allow something that we don’t know if it’s safe or not.” Concerns about sunscreens began heating up in 2019 when the FDA asked manufacturers for safety data on chemical ingredients, including octocrylene. In May, an independent testing lab found levels of another probable carcinogen, benzene, in several products, leading to some recalls. FDA research shows that the body absorbs enough of sunscreens’ chemical ingredients to warrant further testing. Yet there’s no indication companies have provided the safety data the FDA requested two years ago, said David Andrews, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group, an advocacy organization. The FDA “takes seriously any safety concerns raised about products we regulate, including sunscreen,” said Courtney Rhodes,
a spokeswoman. The agency “will continue to monitor the sunscreen marketplace to help ensure the availability of safe sunscreens for U.S. consumers,” while it evaluates the contamination concerns, she said.
Similar Results Working with researchers at the Paris-based Sorbonne University, Downs and Joe DiNardo, a toxicologist who formerly worked in the cosmetics industry, tested 16 octocrylene-based sunscreens purchased in France and the U.S. The brands included Beiersdorf AG’s Coppertone Water Babies spray, Edgewell Personal Care Co.’s Banana Boat SPF 50 lotion and a Neutrogena Beach Defense spray and lotion from Johnson & Johnson. All of them tested positive for benzophenone. Downs and DiNardo’s findings were published in the journal Chemical Research in Toxicology in March. Later, Belgian researchers published similar results after testing products containing octocrylene. “We ensure that all Beiersdorf products, including our sunscreens, are rigorously evaluated for safety and efficacy,” Robert Nishiyama, a spokesman, said in an email. J&J and Edgewell didn’t respond
10 | ABA Publications | Africa TRAVEL | Sept 2021
