Many sunscreen ingredients have not been fully tested for safety. (Photo: Bigstock)
January 23, 2020
By a staff writer
Natural Health News
Health News – After a single application of sunscreen, a number of chemicals of concern can be absorbed into the bloodstream at levels that exceed official safety limits.
That’s the conclusion of a new study by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, part of the US Food and Drug Administration.
There are two main types of sunscreen. Mineral sunscreens sit on top of the skin and reflect the rays. Chemical sunscreens are designed to be absorbed into the skin. Sunscreens are still considered effective as part of a multifaceted approach to sun protection that includes wearing protective clothing, seeking shade, and staying out of the sun when it’s at its most intense. But the chemicals in many sunscreens are a concern — not least because they’re poorly studied.
The FDA’s findings were published in a medical journal YAMA, based on those who a pilot study Posted by the agency in 2019. In this study, four popular sunscreen chemicals—avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene, and ecamsol—were absorbed from the skin into the bloodstream after one day of application.
The new study re-evaluated three of the original four (avobenzone, oxybenzone and octocrylene) and added three additional sunscreen chemicals – homosalate, octisalate and octinoxate.
And randomly assigned 48 volunteers (mean age 38.7 years; 50% female; 48% white) to use sunscreen containing one or more of these sunscreen chemicals by aerosol, lotion, nonaerosol spray, or pump spray.
High absorption rate
Within 4 days, 75% of the body surface area was protected from the sun. It is used in the same amount once on the 1st day and four times on the remaining 3 days at an interval of 2 hours.
The study was conducted indoors. Although conducting the study outdoors suggests a real-life environment, the researchers conducted the study indoors, noting that “the data will likely be variable due to the need to control heat, humidity, wind, and cloud cover.”
Blood samples were collected and analyzed during the study and found that the average plasma concentration of all six active ingredients after a single application on day 1 was greater than 0.5 ng/ml – above the recommended safe level for these chemicals.
After day 1, blood concentrations of the six chemicals increased each day of administration and remained above FDA safety levels on day seven, after the end of administration. Two chemicals—homosalate and oxybenzone—remained well above safe limits 21 days after the first application.
No safety checks
Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, the FDA arm that conducted the study, said the researchers went out of their way to emphasize that the fact that an ingredient is absorbed through the skin and into the body does not mean that it is dangerous.
“On the contrary, this finding calls for further industry testing to determine the safety and systemic effects of sunscreen ingredients, particularly with chronic use,” Woodcock said.
However, these are chemicals, most of which destroy hormones, which should not be present in large quantities in the body. It indicates that they remained in the body even after the termination of the trial
Commenting on the study, David Andrews, a senior scientist at the Environmental Working Group (EWG), a consumer organization that advocates for sunscreen, said.
“Most concerning about these findings is that the chemical is absorbed into the body in large amounts and the ingredients have not been fully tested for safety.”
He added: “If companies want to keep these ingredients in products, they should urgently test for possible harm to children and harm from long-term use.”
