Sunscreen gets into the blood after only one day of use, according to a study

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The study, published Monday in the medical journal JAMA, also revealed that the blood concentration of three of the ingredients continued to increase over the course of daily use, and then remained in the body for at least 24 hours after the end of the use of sun protection.

So, should you stop using sunscreen? Absolutely not, say the experts.

"Studies need to be done to evaluate this finding and determine if there are real medical implications to the absorption of certain ingredients," said Yale School of Medicine dermatologist David Leffell, spokesperson. from the American Academy of Dermatology. He added that in the meantime, people should "continue to be aggressive in sun protection".

"The sun is the real enemy here," said Scott Faber, vice president of government affairs for the Environmental Working Group, or EWG, a lobby group that publishes a guidebook on sunscreens every year.

"It's not a news that the things you put on your skin are absorbed by the body," Faber said. "This study is the means used by the FDA to show manufacturers of sunscreens that they must conduct studies to determine if the absorption of chemicals presents health risks."

The need to filter

According to the Skin Cancer Foundation, the number of cases of skin cancer diagnosed in the United States is higher than that of all other cancers combined. According to the World Cancer Research Fund, melanoma is the 19th most common cancer in men and women.

In the United States, sunscreens were initially approved as an over-the-counter solution for sunburn. They were of two types: one using chemical combinations to filter the sun, the other using minerals to block it, such as titanium dioxide or zinc oxide, which leave a white coating. Not wanting to have a white hue, the popularity of chemical sunscreens has greatly increased.

Because of the way they were used at the time, their potential impact on health was not very worrying. But that quickly changed and the FDA began asking the industry for safety testing, said David Andrews, senior scientist at EWG.

"They were originally used in small amounts to prevent sunburn on vacation," said Andrews. "Now, they recommend applying them daily, applying them to large areas of your body, and the FDA has begun to voice its concerns."

A small study on sunscreen chemicals

The new FDA study recruited 24 healthy volunteers who were randomly assigned to an aerosolized sunscreen or lotion containing avobenzone, oxybenzone or octocrylene as ingredients or a sunscreen containing the chemical shell.

The volunteers were asked to apply assigned sunscreen on 75% of the body four times a day for four days. Thirty blood samples were taken from each volunteer for seven days.

Of the six people using the cream ecamsule, five had concentrations of chemical in their blood considered statistically significant at the end of the first day. For the other three chemicals, especially oxybenzone, all volunteers showed significant levels after the first day.

"Looking through the results tables of the study, one thing about oxybenzone has stood out," said David Andrews, senior scientist at EWG. "The oxybenzone was absorbed into the body at a concentration of about 50 to 100 times greater than that of these other three chemicals tested."

In 2008, US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention analyzed urine samples collected during a government study and found the presence of oxybenzone in 97% of the samples. Since then, studies have shown a potential link between oxybenzone and lower testosterone levels in adolescent boys, hormonal changes in men, shorter pregnancies, and disruption of birth weight in infants but researchers are cautious about the possibility of association.

Oxybenzone is one of the ingredients of sunscreen. known to be the most common cause of contact allergies; a 10-year study found that 70% of people had a positive patch test after exposure.

A Swiss study found that 85% of breast milk samples contained oxybenzone or one of four sunscreen chemicals, raising fears that newborns would be potentially exposed.

And Hawaii, the Pacific nation of Palau and Key West, recently banned sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate because they cause coral bleaching and are dangerous to marine ecosystems.

The European Union has mainly replaced oxybenzone in its sunscreen products with newer and more protective substances that block a larger share of dangerous UV-B and UVA rays. But these new products have not passed the necessary safety tests for FDA approval. So, the oxybenzone remains in use; In fact, a report released by the electronic working group in 2018 estimated that it was in two-thirds of all chemical-based sunscreens sold in the United States.

Protect yourself from the sun

In an editorial accompanying the new study, Dr. Robert Califf, former president of the FDA, assured readers that the mere fact that the study revealed levels of chemicals "far above the FDA's recommendations does not mean that these ingredients are dangerous. "

In a statement, the Personal Care Products Council, which is the national trade council for sun protection products, cosmetics and personal care products, has agreed.

"The presence of sunscreen in the plasma after maximum use does not necessarily pose safety issues," said Alex Kowcz, chief scientific officer of the council.

"It is important for consumers to be aware that in this study sunscreens were applied to 75% of the body four times a day for four days – which is twice as much as what would be applied in this study. the scientific community sees as a reality, conditions of the world, "said Kowcz. The board worried, she said, that the FDA study could confuse consumers and discourage the use of sunscreen.

The American Academy of Dermatology recommends applying at least one ounce of sunscreen to all exposed skin every two hours or after swimming, including "back, neck, face, ears, the top of the feet and legs. If you have thinning hair, apply sunscreen. To protect your lips, apply a lip balm with an SPF of at least 15 ", said the academy, adding that, as UV rays are still present, it was necessary to apply sunscreen to the skin exposed even in cloudy weather and in winter.

Urgent need for research

Califf said the next steps would be to develop well-designed industry-wide clinical trials to test safety and determine the optimal dose to prevent skin cancer while balancing the risks and benefits.

In addition, "an urgent issue concerns the absorption in infants and children, who have different ratios of body surface area to total size and whose skin can absorb substances at different rates".

According to the statement from the Personal Care Products Council, the industry has proposed "advanced toxicological safety approaches as alternatives" to the FDA test method. "We look forward to continuing our work with the FDA to ensure that consumers have access to products containing a wide variety of active sunscreen ingredients," said Kowcz.

While science continues to answer questions about sunscreens, Califf and other experts are calling on the public to continue protecting their skin from the dangerous rays of the sun.

The American Academy of Dermatology recommends choosing as the first choice the two mineral sunscreens containing titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. However, sunscreens containing the 12 ingredients to be investigated by the FDA are not considered dangerous by the agency and the agency has not suggested stopping their use yet.

According to the academy, there are ways to protect yourself and your family from something other than sunscreen. Look for shade, especially between 10:00 and 14:00. when the sun is hottest, and whenever your shadow is shorter than you. Wear protective clothing, such as long-sleeved shirts and pants, a wide-brimmed hat and do not forget the sunglasses.

"He looks for shade, uses clothing and, if necessary, sunscreen," Andrews said of EWG, "but do not use it to prolong your time in the sun."

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