Sunscreen Scare or Media Hype?

June 29th, 2010. By janem

Is there nothing new under the sun? The media is all over the link between sunscreen and cancer but it’s yesterday’s news (specifically, a number of years ago)–everyone knows that too much sun can cause skin cancer. But here’s the problem: the media could be sending out a misleading message to sun worshippers who believe sunscreen can cause melanoma, so they might soak up the rays sans sunscreen. Duh. Besides, the problem isn’t sunscreen; it’s retinyl palmitate, a compound used by sunscreen manufacturers.

A new (!) report has found that vitamin A and its derivatives, retinol and retinyl palmitate, may speed up the cancer that sunscreen is used to prevent.

On May 24, the Environmental Working Group (EWG) published its  2010 report on sunscreen that calls into question the protection offered by most products and raises a red flag about a chemical additive called retinyl palmitate that could increase cancer risk. EWG recommends that consumers choose vitamin A-free sunscreens and it also lambastes the FDA for its failure to issue regulations regarding sunscreen containing vitamin A.

“There was enough evidence 10 years ago for FDA to caution consumers against the use of vitamin A in sunscreens,” Jane Houlihan, EWG’s senior vice president for research, told AOL News. “FDA launched this one-year study, completed their research and now 10 years later, they say nothing about it, just silence.” Incredibly, the FDA denied the allegations. As reported by AOL News,  an FDA spokesperson said, “We have thoroughly checked and are not aware of any studies…[the spokesperson] checked with bosses throughout the agency and found no one who knew of the vitamin A sunscreen research being done by or on behalf of the agency.

But documents from the FDA and the National Toxicology Program showed that the agency had done the research in 2000, and they have been made public!

In October 2000, a report by the National Toxicology Program said that ” Retinyl palmitate was selected by (FDA’s) Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition for photo-toxicity and photocarcinogenicity testing based on the increasingly widespread use of this compound in cosmetic retail products for use on sun-exposed skin.”

I don’t see any studies done on people who slathered on sunscreen, stayed out of the sun, and wound up with melanoma.  So why hasn’t the FDA gone after the maker of retinyl, which is also sold in a number of cosmetics as vitamin A, an anti-aging product? The FDA study concluded that vitamin A has photocarcinogenic properties, meaning there is a possibility that it could cause cancerous tumors when used on skin exposed to sunlight.

Sunscreen Lawsuits

Of course there are now lawsuits in the works against sunscreen manufacturers, but that’s nothing new either—a class action suit in 2006 alleged Schering-Plough (Coppertone); Sun Pharmaceuticals and Playtex Products (Banana Boat); Tanning Research Laboratories (Hawaiian Tropic); Neutrogena Corp and Johnson & Johnson (Neutrogena); and Chattem Inc. (Bullfrog) falsely advertised their products. The suits said SPF designations apply only to protection from UVB rays, but manufacturers use it to imply a similar level of UVA protection, which it does not in fact provide. The FDA accepts SPF standards for UVB but there is no standard to measure UVA protection. Anyway, a settlement was reached in 2009: Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic Sun Products agreed to a settlement and The American Cancer Society was given a check for $47,500.

Now the Skin Cancer Foundation is concerned that a consumer lawsuit filed against sunscreen manufacturers may give the public pause about regular sunscreen use. The suit claims that manufacturers “are making systematically fraudulent, deliberately misleading claims on their labels and websites and in their advertising, exaggerating the ability of sunscreens to protect against the sun and reduce the risk of cancer and other skin ailments”.

Bottom Line: Stay out of the sun and if, heaven forbid, you have to go outside, wear a big floppy hat.

Tags: sunscreen, sunscreen skin cancer

This was posted on Tuesday, June 29th, 2010 at 1:35 pm and is filed under Consumer Fraud . Feel free to respond, or trackback. Read our comments policy.