Sunscreen Contamination

Let’s say it together - summer is almost here! Two more weeks and it will be official. It’s time to dig out the beach towels and bathing suits, give them a good wash, and sort through last year’s beach totes stowed away for warmer days. Dump out the sand, kiss all those little shells that needed to come home with you, and return those lost books to their rightful place amongst their friends.

I also extend an enthusiastic invitation to sort through any “beach products” you might have: sunscreen, lip balm, aloe vera gel, salty hair spray, or whatever else you might use with your summer beach rituals. These are the kind of products fall into the category of “cosmetics” according to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and are thus subject to very lax regulations and ripe for unnecessary chemicals and contaminations.

Just this week Valisure, a drug quality index provider that identifies and addresses medication quality issues, announced their findings that a startling number of sunscreen and post-sun care products tested in their labs were found to be contaminated with benzene, a known carcinogen. They have pressured the FDA to recall the contaminated batches and define clearer limits for benzene contamination in drug and cosmetic products.

Well, now what to do with these old sunscreen products? You can check the Valisure website to see if you might be in possession of contaminated products or you might go a little bit deeper. Never mind the contamination, what are the known ingredients in your sunscreen? Are those ingredients necessary for your protection from the suns rays? Will those chemicals cause damage to aquatic life, or other habitats, once rinsed off and floating around in the ocean waves?

The FDA estimates that over 11,000 sunscreen products are on market in the United States, which means it is impossible for me to personally provide an analysis of all sunscreen products, and this fact also demonstrates just how “over its head” the FDA is with keeping tabs on what is manufactured and sold to consumers.

My initial reaction to stories like this (THERE ARE SO MANY): intellectually appalled, ethically nauseated, and practically inundated. Thankfully my training has endowed me with rescue and safety measures - knowledge and sensibility. I dig into the chemistry and biology research to figure out what consumers actually NEED from their products, not what manufacturers want to sell us. Then I apply some principles.

- Buy from companies that value transparency, e.g. listening all ingredients (both active and inactive), ingredient source, labor compensation

- Buy from companies that educate about their ingredients, e.g. uncoated zinc vs coated zinc

- Buy from companies that value ecological responsibility, e.g. no endocrine disrupting ingredients

- Buy from companies that redistribute wealth, e.g owned by BIPOC, co-operatively owned

This general framework serves me in any consumer decision that I make - it’s not the comprehensive process that I use but should give a good sense of the tremendous amount of labor I put into choosing where my money goes and why.

https://www.valisure.com/blog/valisure-news/valisure-detects-benzene-in-sunscreen/