Sunscreen products are intended to be applied to the body every day, over the course of a lifetime. The companies that make and sell sunscreen ingredients and products should test them thoroughly for potential short-term and long-term health effects. This includes toxicity testing for irritation and skin allergies, as well as testing for skin absorption and the potential to cause cancer, disrupt the hormone system and impact reproduction and development.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In 2021, the Food and Drug Administration, which oversees sunscreen safety, proposed its latest update to regulations for these products. The agency reviewed 16 ingredients and reported that only two, zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, are \u201cgenerally recognized as safe and effective\u201d, or GRASE, based on the available information. A GRASE designation means the ingredient is widely recognized as safe and effective by experts.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
Citing data showing safety issues, the FDA proposed that two rarely used sunscreen ingredients, aminobenzoic acid and trolamine salicylate, are not GRASE.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
The FDA proposed that 12 other ingredients are not GRASE due to insufficient data: Avobenzone, cinoxate, dioxybenzone, ensulizole, homosalate, meradimate, octinoxate, octisalate, octocrylene, oxybenzone, padimate O, and sulisobenzone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
While these twelve ingredients may not be GRASE, they will still be allowed to be used in products on the U.S. market until the FDA finalizes its 2021 proposal.<\/p>\r\n\r\n
In the meantime, the FDA has requested additional safety data of these ingredients because of health concerns and studies by the agency that show these ingredients can be absorbed through the skin<\/a>. In recent years, studies have also raised concerns about endocrine-disrupting effects of three ingredients: homosalate, avobenzone and oxybenzone.<\/p>\r\n\r\n In 2021 the European Commission published final opinions on the safety of three non-mineral ultraviolet, or UV, filters, oxybenzone<\/a>, homosalate<\/a> and octocrylene<\/a>. It found that two of these filters \u2013 homosalate and octocrylene \u2013\u00a0 are not safe in the amounts at which they\u2019re currently used. As a result, the commission proposed limiting the allowed concentrations of these filters in sunscreens.<\/p>\r\n\r\n But the\u00a0 U.S has different standards, as sunscreen manufacturers are legally allowed to use these two chemicals at concentrations higher than the European limits. That\u2019s why hundreds of U.S.-made sunscreens have such high levels of the substances.<\/p>\r\n\r\n The ingredients oxybenzone, octinoxate, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate and avobenzone are all systemically absorbed into the body after use, according to studies<\/a> published by the FDA. These studies also reported that the ingredients could be detected on the skin and in the blood weeks after they had last been used.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Other studies have reported<\/a> sunscreen ingredients were detected in breast milk, urine and blood plasma samples.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Absorption from skin application is not the only way sunscreen ingredients end up in the body. It\u2019s also possible for sunscreen users to inhale ingredients in sunscreen sprays and ingest some of the ingredients they apply to their lips, so the ingredients should not be harmful to the lungs or internal organs.<\/p>\r\n\r\n This constant exposure to sunscreen chemicals raises concerns, especially because there is not enough safety data for most ingredients.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Active ingredient toxicity<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n This table outlines human exposure and hazard information for eight common FDA-approved sunscreen chemicals, often referred to as active ingredients because they provide UV protection. Sunscreen products typically include a combination of active ingredients, except for those formulated with zinc oxide.<\/p>\r\n\r\n Table 1. Summary of health concerns associated with sunscreen active ingredients.<\/strong><\/p>\r\n\r\n