OT:CDC: Americans Carry Body Burden of Toxic Sunscreen Chemical

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CDC: Americans Carry Body Burden of Toxic Sunscreen Chemical

Environmental Working Group - Washington,DC*

http://www.ewg.org/node/26212

25 MAR 2008 A new study by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control

(CDC) reveals that 97% of Americans are contaminated with a widely-

used sunscreen ingredient called oxybenzone that has been linked to

allergies, hormone disruption, and cell damage. A companion study

published just one day earlier revealed that this chemical is linked

to low birth weight in baby girls whose mothers are exposed during

pregnancy. Oxybenzone is also a penetration enhancer, a chemical

that helps other chemicals penetrate the skin.

Although oxybenzone is most common in sunscreen, companies also use

the chemical in at least 567 other personal care products.

Environmental Working Group identified nearly 600 sunscreens sold in

the U.S. that contain oxybenzone, including products by Hawaiian

Tropic, Coppertone, and Banana Boat (see the full list of 588

sunscreens here) as well as 172 facial moisturizers, 111 lip balms,

and 81 different types of lipstick.

The Food and Drug Administration has failed miserably in its duty to

protect the public from toxic chemicals like oxybenzone in personal

care products. At the request of industry lobbyists, including

Supreme Court Chief Justice , who represented the

Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association, the agency has delayed

final sunscreen safety standards for nearly 30 years. FDA issued a

new draft of the standards last October under pressure from EWG, but

continues to delay finalizing them at the behest of the regulated

industry.

EWG research shows that 84% of 910 name-brand sunscreen products

offer inadequate protection from the sun, or contain ingredients,

like oxybenzone, with significant safety concerns.

The last safety review for oxybenzone was done in the 1970s, and

does not reflect a wealth of information developed since that time

indicating increased toxicity concerns and widespread human

exposure. A recent review in the European Union found that

sufficient data were not available to assess if oxybenzone in

sunscreen was safe for consumers.

Environmental Working Group again calls on FDA to review the safety

of oxybenzone, given this new data on widespread contamination of

the U.S. population, and to finalize its sunscreen safety standards

so that consumers can be certain that sunscreen products they

purchase are safe and effective.

CDC study of oxybenzone signals concern

Top scientists from CDC published results March 21, 2008 from a

national survey of 2,500 Americans, age 6 and up, showing that

oxybenzone readily absorbs into the body and is present in 97% of

Americans tested (Calafat 2008). Oxybenzone, also known as

benzophenone-3, was detected in the urine of nearly every study

participant. Typically, women and girls had higher levels of

oxybenzone in their bodies than men and boys, likely a result of

differences in use of body care products including sunscreens.

A companion study released a day earlier revealed that mothers with

high levels of oxybenzone in their bodies were more likely to give

birth to underweight baby girls (Wolff 2008). Low birth weight is a

critical risk factor linked to coronary heart disease, hypertension,

type 2 diabetes, and other diseases in adulthood (Lau 2004).

Oxybenzone damages and penetrates the skin

Among common sunscreen chemicals, oxybenzone is most likely to be

associated with allergic reactions triggered by sun exposure. In a

study of 82 patients with photoallergic contact dermatitis, over one

quarter showed photoallergic reactions to oxybenzone (

2006); another study reported 1 in 5 allergic reactions to

photopatch tests resulted from exposure to oxybenzone (Bryden 2006).

Sunlight also causes oxybenzone to form free radical chemicals that

may be linked to cell damage, according to 2 of 3 studies (

1996; Serpone 2002; Hanson 2006).

A less visible but more alarming concern, this chemical absorbs

through the skin in significant amounts, as indicated by the CDC

study. A previous biomonitoring study reported that 96% of 6 to 8

year old girls had detectable amounts of oxybenzone in their urine

(Wolff 2007). An earlier study detected oxybenzone in the urine of

all 30 adult participants (Ye 2005).

Studies on human volunteers indicate a wide variation in the level

of oxybenzone absorbed into the body, with some individuals

absorbing at least 9% of the applied dose, as measured in excretions

in urine (Hayden 1997; Janjua 2004; Sarveiya 2004; 2006).

Volunteers continued to excrete oxybenzone many days after the last

application of the chemical, an indication of its tendency to

accumulate in fatty tissues in the body ( 2006).

In addition to its ability to absorb into the body, oxybenzone is

also a penetration enhancer, a chemical that helps other chemicals

penetrate the skin (Pont 2004).

Oxybenzone may disrupt the human hormone system

Studies on cells and laboratory animals indicate that oxybenzone and

its metabolites, the chemicals the body makes from oxybenzone in an

attempt to detoxify and excrete it, may disrupt the hormone system.

Under study conditions, oxybenzone and its metabolites cause weak

estrogenic (Nakagawa 2002; Schlumpf 2001, 2004; Kunz 2006; van

Liempd 2007) and anti-androgenic (Ma 2003) effects. Oxybenzone

displays additive hormonal effects when tested with other sunscreen

chemicals (Heneweer 2005). Laboratory study also suggests that

oxybenzone may affect the adrenal hormone system (Ziolkowska 2006).

One human study coapplying 3 sunscreen active ingredients

(oxybenzone, 4-MBC, and octinoxate) suggested a minor, intermittent,

but statistically significant drop in testosterone levels in men

during a one-week application period (Janjua 2004). Researchers also

detected statistically significant declines in estradiol levels in

men; other hormonal differences detected could not be linked to

sunscreen use due to differences in baseline hormone levels before

and during treatment.

Outdated health protections do not take into account these and other

adverse effects

A 2006 European Union review concluded that a rigorous exposure

assessment of oxybenzone was impossible, due to lack of information

about the levels of absorption into the body (SCCP 2006). The levels

of contamination reported in this latest CDC study indicate that

absorption may be significant, consistent with previous, small-scale

biomonitoring reports. A decades-old evaluation by FDA, as well as

more recent review by the cosmetics industry's own safety panel, do

not consider concerns regarding hormone disruption, nor the

implications of the ability of oxybenzone to penetrate the skin (FDA

1978; CIR 1983, 2002). At present, no health-based standards exist

for safe levels of oxybenzone in the body.

Additional cautions must be employed when considering the effects of

oxybenzone on children. The surface area of a child's skin relative

to body weight is greater than adults. As a result, the potential

dose of a chemical following dermal exposure is likely to be about

1.4 times greater in children than in adults (SCCNFP 2001). In

addition, children are less able than adults to detoxify and excrete

chemicals, and children's developing organ systems are more

vulnerable to damage from chemical exposures, and more sensitive to

low levels of hormonally active compounds (NAS 1993; Janjua 2004).

Children also have more years of future life in which to develop

disease triggered by early exposure to chemicals (NAS 1993). Despite

these well-documented concerns regarding children's sensitivity to

harmful substances, no special protections exist regarding

ingredients in personal care products marketed for babies and

children.

The fraction of oxybenzone that is not absorbed into the human body

often contaminates water, washed from the skin during swimming and

water play or while bathing (Lambropolou 2002; Danovaro 2008).

Wastewater treatment removes only a fraction of this sunscreen

chemical (Li 2007), resulting in detection of oxybenzone in treated

wastewater, in lake and sea waters due to recreational use or to

discharges from water treatment facilities, and even in fish (Balmer

2005; Cuderman 2007; Li 2007). Studies show oxybenzone can trigger

outbreaks of viral infection in coral reefs (Danovaro 2008), and can

cause feminization of male fish (Kunz 2006). Despite significant

ecological concerns, there are no measures in place to protect

sensitive ecosystems from damage caused by this contaminant.

EWG to FDA: Oxybenzone investigation is long overdue

FDA last reviewed the safety of oxybenzone in the 1970s, publishing

its evaluation in 1978, at the same time it announced plans to

develop comprehensive standards for sunscreen safety and

effectiveness (FDA 1978). 30 years later, the Agency has yet to

issue final regulations. Instead, it encourages manufacturers to

follow draft guidelines that the Agency has delayed finalizing at

the behest of the sunscreen industry. As a result, sunscreen

manufacturers in the U.S. are free to market products containing

ingredients like oxybenzone that have not been proven safe for

people.

Found in over half of the 910 name-brand sunscreen products we

reviewed, oxybenzone is tied to significant health concerns that

must be scrutinized. Instead, FDA's refusal to re-examine this

ingredient keeps sunscreens containing oxybenzone on the market.

Petitions for review of newly developed sunscreen ingredients

approved for use in other countries, and with far fewer health

concerns, have been met with similar inattention, blocking

Americans' access to better products.

FDA foot-dragging has left the U.S. without enforceable standards

for sunscreen safety and effectiveness for decades. EWG demands that

FDA finalize the latest version of its monograph on sunscreen

products immediately, and launch an investigation into the safety of

the sunscreen ingredient oxybenzone.

Links

More EWG comments on FDA's sunscreen monograph

EWG report on sunscreen safety

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