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Just one day ofslathering on sunscreenis enough for several chemicals in the product to enter the bloodstream,according to a new studyfrom the Food and Drug Administration.
The study, published Monday, was small — they conducted testing on just 24 people — but the results were concerning and significant enough to trigger further government testing. It was also one of the first studies tolook into the effectsof the chemicals in sunscreen.
The healthy, adult volunteers were split into four groups to testdifferent kinds of sunscreen— a lotion, a cream and two types of spray sunscreens. Then, four times a day for four days, researchers applied 2 milligrams of sunscreen per square centimeter of skin on 75 percent of their body — the “recommended amounts,” though researchers said that the average person typically applies less.
The researchers took 30 blood samples from each volunteer during the seven total days of testing — all of which were spent indoors, out of the sun — and looked for four of the main chemicals in sunscreen: avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene and ecamsule.
In just one day, all four chemicals were present in the volunteers’ blood, and exceeded 0.5 nanograms per milliliter, past the FDA guidelines.
However, researchers emphasize, people should not stop using sunscreen.In an editorial accompanying the study, both published inJAMA, Dr. Robert Califf, a former FDA commissioner, and Dr. Kanade Shinkai, a dermatologist at the University of California, San Francisco, wrote that more testing is needed.
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Califf and Shinkai also said thatgoing without sunscreen is more dangerous.
If you’re concerned,opt for a natural sunscreenfree of the four chemicals.
source: people.com
