It has been detected in one batch of a raw material used in the manufacture of a number of products and the TGA is working with affected companies to confirm if benzene is present in their medicines and if it is, how much is there.īenzene levels in sunscreens sold in Australia must be below 2 parts per million (ppm). Benzene is not an ingredient in sunscreens but can be a contaminant in raw materials used in the manufacturing process. What is benzene and what are the risks?īenzene is a chemical that can cause cancer in humans, depending on the level and length of exposure. If you have any concerns or questions about benzene and use of sunscreens, please speak to your health professional.
BENZENE IN SUNSCREEN UPDATE
We will update this information if additional products are identified and recall actions start. Other products may be added to the table in the next few weeks as the TGA investigations continue. If you have any of the affected batch numbers, please return it to the place of purchase or contact the Sponsor (their contact details are in the table) for a refund. Only the batches included in the table are being recalled. What should I do?Ĭheck the table of products set out below. One batch has been found to contain benzene above the acceptable level.Ĭonsumers and health professionals are advised that a number of sunscreen products, which are regulated as medicines in Australia, are being recalled due to the presence of benzene. And while one might think that a recall is a no-brainer, things are a bit muddled because the FDA “does not define a specific limit for drugs like sunscreen.An additional product, 2XP SPF50+ Bronze Protect Sunscreen Lotion, has been added to the table below. Valisure is urging the FDA to recall the above products and created a petition to support its efforts. While benzene is not an ingredient in any of our sunscreen products, it was detected in some samples of the impacted aerosol sunscreen finished products.
BENZENE IN SUNSCREEN FULL
Note that the full list contains 78 items and can be viewed in its entirety over here. Incidentally, if the name Valisure sounds familiar, it’s because the lab had previously found benzene in some hand sanitizer products that were subsequently recalled by the FDA.Ī sampling of the offending sunscreen products can be seen below. Other natural sources include gas emissions from volcanoes and forest fires.Įxposure to benzene increases the risk of developing leukemia and other blood disorders. It is a natural component of crude oil, which is the main source of benzene produced today. Cleveland Clinic is a non-profit academic. More than 75 spray-style sunscreen and after-sun products were initially recalled, and more have been recalled since.
Benzene is produced by both natural and man-made processes. Over the past year, several popular sunscreen brands have been pulled from the shelves after testing showed they contained benzene, a chemical known for its potential to cause cancer. It is used primarily as a solvent in the chemical and pharmaceutical industries, as a starting material and an intermediate in the synthesis of numerous chemicals, and in gasoline. “Even benzene at 0.1 ppm in a sunscreen could expose people to excessively high nanogram amounts of benzene.”ĭetailing what Benzene is and why it’s particularly dangerous, the National Cancer Institute notes:īenzene is a colorless or light-yellow liquid chemical at room temperature. Christopher Bunick, MD, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Dermatology at Yale University said. “There is not a safe level of benzene that can exist in sunscreen products,” Dr. “Valisure LLC has tested and detected high levels of benzene, a known human carcinogen, in several brands and batches of sunscreen, which are considered drug products by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), as well as in after-sun care products, which are generally regulated by FDA as cosmetics,” the company said in a press release.Īs to the testing and incidence of benzene, Valisure found that 27% of the samples they tested contained levels of benzene that were three times higher than the permissible amount.
0 kommentar(er)
