1. What is oxybenzone and how it is used in sunscreens and personal care products?
Oxybenzone (also known as benzophenone-3 and BP-3) is one of 16 active sunscreen ingredients (compounds that absorb, scatter or reflect ultraviolet (UV)) regulated and the counter (OTC) drugs by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) 0.1 Oxybenzone provides broad spectrum protection against UVA and UVB rays. It was approved by the FDA in 1978 and is one of the oldest currently active ingredients.
The FDA has approved the use of sunscreen oxybenzone at concentrations up to 6 percent, which is less than what is allowed in Europe and Australia (10 percent) .2 Oxybenzone is also used to protect cosmetics and other products custody of the deterioration by UV exposure.
2. I've heard called oxybenzone hormone disruptor. What does this mean and if there are data to support this?
Concern has been expressed that oxybenzone may be able to alter / disrupt normal hormonal (endocrine) balance. Specifically, oxybenzone is suspected of having estrogenic activity, which is the ability to display properties similar to the hormone estrogen.
There have been some published observations using in vitro (test tube) cell lines, as well as studies in rats fed with oxybenzone, and fish, where oxybenzone was introduced in the water, which indicated oxybenzone or its derivatives may prove some estrogenic activity. 4.9 However, the observed effects of oxybenzone estrogen are often considerably weaker compared with estrogen (estradiol) used in these experiments. In some studies, a much higher concentration of oxybenzone (1,000 to 1 million times greater than that of estradiol) was needed to achieve a similar result.
Importantly, the literature does not support an association between estrogen use and oxybenzone or other hormonal changes in humans date.10-12
3. Are there any human studies that show hormonal abnormalities or other potential to affect human health?
Like many topical agents, oxybenzone has proven to be absorbed by humans skin10, and can be detected in blood and urine of users of sunscreens and the population at large.13-15 However, the results multiple studies do not support a relationship between oxybenzone and health problems in the short or long term, the increased risk of adverse health effects.
In particular, when applied repeatedly oxybenzone in the skin of human volunteers, has determined that:
No biologically significant alterations in reproductive hormones (testosterone, follicle-stimulating hormone, luteinizing hormone and estradiol) were detected 11;
The concentrations of oxybenzone absorbed can not alter the normal thyroid hormone levels12, and;
The concentration of oxybenzone into the skin is too low to cause epidermal cells damage.10
Note that oxybenzone has been used as an ingredient in sunscreen since 1978, and apart from allergic reactions or irritant, such as photocontact and contact dermatitis, there have been no reports of systemic side effects of oxybenzone use.
Therefore, the proven benefits of sunscreen to avoid sunburn and reduce the risk of skin cancer far outweigh any concern of toxicity oxybenzone or danger to health.
4. What the FDA and other agencies have to say about oxybenzone?
The safety of oxybenzone was initially examined and approved by the FDA in 1978 and is one of the oldest active in the use of today.17
Since then, there have been additional oxybenzone reviews by other regulatory agencies and expert panels with similar conclusions about its safety for use in consumer products. For example, in 2001 and again in 2006, the Scientific Committee on Consumer Products (SCCP) of the European Union (EU) has developed a position paper based on a review of current scientific knowledge and stated that " Organic UV filters used in sunscreen products allowed into the EU market today have no estrogenic effects that could affect human health. "18
In addition, the safety of oxybenzone for use in cosmetics and personal care products was also revised in 1983 and confirmed in 2002 by the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) Expert Panel, an independent panel of scientific experts and doctors evaluate the safety of cosmetic ingredients in the United States.19-20
No comments:
Post a Comment