State of sunscreen: Lotions lacking
Products fail to provide adequate protection
Before the Memorial Day weekend, an environmental advocacy organization warned that sunscreens on the market may provide inferior protection or contain potentially harmful chemicals.
In a review of more than 1,300 products with SPF in them, the Environmental Working Group found that about two-thirds did not meet its standard for protection or chemical safety.
“It’s quite concerning to us,” said Nneka Leiba, director of healthy living science for the EWG, which releases an annual guide on sunscreens.
That doesn’t mean consumers should stop using sunscreen, which provides essential protection against ultraviolet radiation to help prevent skin cancer, the EWG and dermatologists said.
The Food and Drug Administration said this year that 12 of 16 active ingredients in sunscreens have insufficient data from testing to determine whether
they can be generally recognized as safe and effective.
The EWG releases an annual list of sunscreens it says are safe. To rank each product, the group looks at various factors related to sun protection and the potential health hazard of a product.
Leiba said manufacturers retool their formulas each year, making it necessary to continually review the sunscreens.
Consumers can use the group’s report to check products they use. “We’ve seen so many more products being made that meet our standards,” Leiba said. “We have brands on there that we know you can get at a corner store.”
In February, the FDA proposed a rule that would require more testing on sunscreen’s active ingredients as well as better protection from products with high SPFs, Leiba said.
An FDA study published this month found that some ingredients enter the bloodstream at levels that far exceed its recommended threshold.
Of the 16 sunscreen ingredients, only two were recognized by the FDA as proven safe and effective – zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, the two active ingredients in most mineral sunscreens.
Two other ingredients – PABA and trolamine salicylate – were deemed unsafe under the proposed rule.
For the remaining 12, including common active ingredients such as oxybenzone and octocrylene found in chemical sunscreens, the FDA called for more testing before saying whether they were safe or unsafe.
Leiba said oxybenzone is a potential endocrine disruptor, meaning it could affect growth, development and reproduction. According to the EWG, studies showed it is a weak estrogen and can lower testosterone in adolescent boys.
Last year, Hawaii became the first state to ban sales of sunscreens with oxybenzone and octinoxate, concerned that the chemicals could damage coral reefs. Other states have considered similar bans.
The EWG found oxybenzone in more than 60% of the nonmineral sunscreens it reviewed this year.
Though the FDA said there isn’t enough evidence to rule that ingredients such as oxybenzone are safe, there
“What we have to be careful doesn’t get lost in this is the fact that sunscreen and sunblock are components of a total sun protection program.” David Leffell Yale School of Medicine
isn’t enough to say they are patently unsafe, and doctors said they worry the debate on sunscreen ingredients will steer users away from using sunscreen in the first place.
“The benefits of sun protection are incontrovertible,” said David Leffell, chief of dermatologic surgery and cutaneous oncology at the Yale School of Medicine. “What we have to be careful doesn’t get lost in this is the fact that sunscreen and sunblock are components of a total sun protection program.”
The choice between using a chemical sunscreen versus a mineral one, Leffell said, is for individual patients.
“You have options, and you should do what you’re comfortable with, but most importantly, you should do what’s safe,” Leffell said.
Henry Lim, a former president of the American Academy of Dermatology, also called for continued use of sunscreen. “What we do know is that all these (sunscreens) have been used for decades in the U.S.,” Lim told USA TODAY this month. “And thus far, there have been no reported data of systemic, internal side effects from the use of sunscreen.”
In a statement Monday, the American Academy of Dermatology warned that consumers should continue to use sunscreen, given the body of evidence that shows how sunscreen is effective in preventing cancer.
“The FDA is asking for more data on certain ingredients to find out to what extent the skin absorbs these ingredients and if absorbing sunscreen has any effects on the skin or body. This does not mean that the FDA is expressing concern about sunscreen ingredients, nor have they concluded that any of the sunscreen ingredients sold in the U.S. are unsafe,” AAD President George Hruza said.