Scientific research is increasingly documenting the serious effects of endocrine disruptors on health. However, their omnipresence in everyday consumer goods remains largely unknown to the public. UV filters, present in sunscreens but also in everyday perfumes, are a good example.
In May 2023, a review of 1,700 SPF products on the U.S. market by the Environmental Working Group (EWG) found that only 6% of them contained oxybenzone. This is down from 15% in 2022 and is thanks to public pressure on manufacturers after studies made headlines revealing that the organic UV filter commonly found in sunscreens was linked to endocrine-disrupting effects, shorter pregnancies, lower baby birth weights, hormone changes in men, lower testosterone levels for adolescent boys and increased risks of breast cancer and endometriosis.
However, Emily Spilman, a program manager for EWG, warns that "Oxybenzone is not the only worrisome chemical used in sunscreen. We found that only 25 percent of sunscreens available on the market offer good broad-spectrum protection without troubling ingredients, which underscores the importance of stricter standards." Scientific studies have found that avobenzone and octinoxate, two other common UV filters, also hugely negatively impact health. These risks have not yet made a splash in the news, so manufacturers continue to use alarming amounts of avobenzone and octinoxate in sunscreens and other cosmetics, such as perfumes.
So why are they used? To protect skin from UVA and UVB rays, sunscreen products contain two types of UV filters: organic (chemical) or inorganic (mineral, physical). Organic filters absorb and transform UV rays, whereas inorganic ones reflect and scatter them. Filters, such as avobenzone and octinoxate, only protect from either UVA or UVB rays, so they are typically combined to provide broad-spectrum protection. A study from Thailand, which has regulations for UV filters almost identical to the EU's, analyzed 312 sunscreens and 1350 cosmetic products and found that octinoxate was the most commonly used UVB filter and avobenzone the most common UVA filter.
The EU has approved 30 UV filters for use, whereas the US has only approved 16. However, the EU has stricter standards on allowed concentrations, and most sunscreens sold in the U.S. would not be allowed on E.U. shelves. Currently, the FDA has only classified titanium dioxide and zinc oxide (inorganic filters) as generally recognized as safe and effective (GRASE) and is waiting for additional information before ruling whether the 12 organic filters in use are GRASE or not.
Health Risks: From Hormones to Cancers
The FDA's demand for more information from manufacturers was reiterated after one of their studies discovered that "chemical sunscreen ingredients are systemically absorbed after one application, and some ingredients can stay in the blood for at least three weeks." Octinoxate, which EWG identified in almost 300 products examined, was found in blood samples at levels 16 times above the FDA's safety threshold. Avobenzone, used in 600 products from over 130 brands identified in EWG's database, has been detected in blood samples at levels nine times over the FDA's limit.
As Cherie Duvall-Jones, the FDA's press officer, explains, "The concern isn't about them being chemical sunscreens per se, but about the fact that they are absorbed through the skin. This means we need to know what these absorbed sunscreen ingredients do when they get in the human body. For example, can they lead to cancer or cause developmental or reproductive problems if people use sunscreens every day?"
In fact, octinoxate and avobenzone enter the bloodstream and are found in body fluids such as breast milk, urine, and sperm. They are also found in wastewater, even after treatment, with effects on the growth and even DNA structure of plants that have received nutrients from recycling. Indeed, the fact that octinoxate and avobenzone can penetrate into the bloodstream (as well as breastmilk, urine, and semen) is particularly disconcerting, given the numerous studies over the past twenty years linking the UV filters to serious health problems. They have been shown to increase breast cancer cell proliferation, have endocrine-disrupting effects such as reducing thyroid hormone production, impact nervous systems and neurological development, and harm reproductive organs by altering their weight and structure and lowering sperm counts and hormones, including estradiol and progesterone.
The Sunscreen Dilemma: Protection vs. Risk
Despite conclusive findings from studies on animal and human subjects about the high risks organic UV filters like avobenzone and octinoxate pose to our health, they are still authorized for sale under certain thresholds in most of the world (with the exceptions of the state of Hawaii, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Palau, Aruba, and Bonaire). This is mainly because consumers and regulating authorities are faced with a tough quandary: the need to provide sunscreen products people will actually use in order to protect themselves from skin cancers while also keeping dangerous chemicals out of our bodies.
The dilemma is not minor, considering that skin cancer is the most common cancer for Caucasians, and melanoma rates have increased in the U.S. by 320% since 1975. One in five Americans can expect to get skin cancer during their lifetime, with 80%–90% being linked to sun exposure. This is why the global sunscreen market is expected to rise from $11.6 billion in 2018 to $24.4 billion in 2029 and why health experts worldwide urge people to slather on sunscreen daily.
People should be protecting their skin, but as Carla Burns, EWG senior director for cosmetic science, observes, "We slather these ingredients on our skin, but many of these chemicals haven't been adequately tested... The long-term use of these chemicals, and especially chemicals not adequately tested for safety, could be problematic."
The Perfume Predicament: A Potential Health Bomb
To further complicate the matter, the same organic UV filters found in sunscreens, especially avobenzone and octinoxate, are also found in cosmetics used by people daily. This adds additional, unquantified exposures to dangerous chemicals. UV filters are added to other cosmetics as stabilizing agents to add further UV protection for people and to prevent scent decomposition.
This last reason explains why the previously mentioned study from Thailand also found that, out of all cosmetic products, perfumes contained the highest median number of UV filters. Avobenzone was found in 80% of the perfumes they sampled, and octinoxate in 72%. These percentages are similar to their use in sunscreens but must be studied differently because people apply perfume every day, rain or shine, and risk additional exposure through inhalation—the effects of which currently lack research for UV filters.
Indeed, aside from the research out of Thailand, there are very few current studies on UV filters in perfumes. Plus, regulations generally exempt companies from having to disclose the exact ingredients for fragrances. In the U.S., the formulas found in perfumes are considered proprietary information, which means consumers don't really know what they are spritzing on themselves. The EU requires ingredients to be listed on the packaging in decreasing order of concentration but does not demand exact concentrations.
In response, the EWG has compiled a database of all the perfumes known to them containing avobenzone and octinoxate, and they provide an indication of the hazard level of the concentrations. However, the global lack of information on organic UV filters in perfumes needs to be addressed to understand better the potential health risks for people regularly using cosmetics such as perfumes in addition to their sunscreens.
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