5 ms·

How common is oxybenzone (or octinoxate for that matter) currently? Just a couple years ago it seemed to be in nearly every container of sunscreen (and all the

How common is oxybenzone (or octinoxate for that matter) currently? Just a couple years ago it seemed to be in nearly every container of sunscreen (and all the articles I can find about it were from then), as I actively tried to avoid it. I went looking for sunscreen just last week, and I literally didn't see it listed once, even in the most commodity brands like Banana Boat and Sun Bum.

gruez 4y ago
"Amazon's Choice" for "sunscreen" contains 6% Oxybenzone. https://www.amazon.com/Neutrogena-Ultra-Dry-Touch-Sunscreen-Spectrum/dp/B005IHT94S/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=sunscreen&sprefix=sunscreen%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-5 https://www.amazon.com/Neutrogena-Ultra-Dry-Touch-Sunscreen-...
- lostcolony 4y ago
  I don't know if I believe that, actually. If you look at one of Amazon's "best sellers" in the category, https://www.amazon.com/Sun-Bum-Moisturizing-SPF-Hypoallergenic/dp/B004YAUZFW https://www.amazon.com/Sun-Bum-Moisturizing-SPF-Hypoallergen..., you see the description says both Oxybenzone and Octinoxate free, but that the image of the ingredient list shows Octinoxate. They clearly updated the product, but not the images. If I search for the particular sunscreen you link and go to Neutrogena's website, I get https://www.neutrogena.com/products/sun/ultra-sheer-dry-touch-oxybenzone-free-sunscreen-lotion-broad-spectrum-spf-70/6868770.html https://www.neutrogena.com/products/sun/ultra-sheer-dry-touc..., which is, as you'll note from the URL, Oxybenzone free (and Octinoxate as well). Searching more broadly, I can't find -any- reference to the 70 SPF ultra sheer dry touch with Oxybenzone on Neutrogena's site; I can find the 100 SPF at https://www.neutrogena.com/products/sun/ultra-sheer-dry-touch-sunscreen-broad-spectrum-spf-100/6887310.html https://www.neutrogena.com/products/sun/ultra-sheer-dry-touc... (via Google), but as you'll note, that's discontinued. I can also comment, in Target, I looked at every Neutrogena product. I can't say for certain I saw the 70 SPF, but I can say I definitely checked out the ultra sheer dry touch line. No Oxybenzone. So my expectation is that either that item on Amazon is old stock, or they haven't updated the product details (I don't see an indicator it's being filled by a third party else I'd also suggest it might be a formulation for another country that doesn't have regulations/awareness around oxybenzone). It's not actually being sold by Neutrogena in the US any more.
  - alsdjfklasjdf 4y ago
    Ingredients move back and forth between lots all the time! I would trust the last-mile seller to be more correct than the manufacturer website! Check on https://www.cosdna.com/ https://www.cosdna.com/ a distributed effort to document what is being sold where at different times. If you look that site, any big brand (and neutrogena, which is just a front for J&J today, is the biggest you can get) will show dozens of variations for each product. All around the same geographic region and time frame.
scythe 4y ago
The persistence of these *benzones in sunscreen is largely an American problem. As of 2019, the FDA had not approved any new sunscreen ingredients in two decades: https://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/regulations/spf-sun/news/21842892/dsm-nutritional-products-inc-dsm-seeks-fda-sunscreen-monograph-approval-of-bemotrizinol https://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/regulations/spf-sun/n... So if you live outside the US, you probably see very different ingredient lists.
- qgin 4y ago
  Pretty much every other country has better and less toxic sunscreen than the US, but unfortunately we categorize sunscreens as drugs and there’s not enough money in sunscreen do the kind of trial FDA requires for new drugs.
  - vkou 4y ago
    Why should sunscreen, which you smear your body with be put through a less rigorous process to ensure safety, than, say, any one of the topical drugs prescribed by doctors?
    - qgin 4y ago
      Soaps, lotions, all manner of potions go straight to the consumer because they're not marketed as drugs. It only counts as a drug if you want to claim on the package that it has a biological effect. The FDA process as it's set up now isn't about safety necessarily. It's about whether you're allowed to claim your product has an effect. If you want to say it protects against UV light, that's going to cost you about $20 million. If it's for a product you don't even have a patent on, that's just not going to happen.

gruez 4y ago

"Amazon's Choice" for "sunscreen" contains 6% Oxybenzone. https://www.amazon.com/Neutrogena-Ultra-Dry-Touch-Sunscreen-Spectrum/dp/B005IHT94S/ref=sr_1_5?keywords=sunscreen&sprefix=sunscreen%2Caps%2C100&sr=8-5 https://www.amazon.com/Neutrogena-Ultra-Dry-Touch-Sunscreen-...

lostcolony 4y ago
I don't know if I believe that, actually. If you look at one of Amazon's "best sellers" in the category, https://www.amazon.com/Sun-Bum-Moisturizing-SPF-Hypoallergenic/dp/B004YAUZFW https://www.amazon.com/Sun-Bum-Moisturizing-SPF-Hypoallergen..., you see the description says both Oxybenzone and Octinoxate free, but that the image of the ingredient list shows Octinoxate. They clearly updated the product, but not the images. If I search for the particular sunscreen you link and go to Neutrogena's website, I get https://www.neutrogena.com/products/sun/ultra-sheer-dry-touch-oxybenzone-free-sunscreen-lotion-broad-spectrum-spf-70/6868770.html https://www.neutrogena.com/products/sun/ultra-sheer-dry-touc..., which is, as you'll note from the URL, Oxybenzone free (and Octinoxate as well). Searching more broadly, I can't find -any- reference to the 70 SPF ultra sheer dry touch with Oxybenzone on Neutrogena's site; I can find the 100 SPF at https://www.neutrogena.com/products/sun/ultra-sheer-dry-touch-sunscreen-broad-spectrum-spf-100/6887310.html https://www.neutrogena.com/products/sun/ultra-sheer-dry-touc... (via Google), but as you'll note, that's discontinued. I can also comment, in Target, I looked at every Neutrogena product. I can't say for certain I saw the 70 SPF, but I can say I definitely checked out the ultra sheer dry touch line. No Oxybenzone. So my expectation is that either that item on Amazon is old stock, or they haven't updated the product details (I don't see an indicator it's being filled by a third party else I'd also suggest it might be a formulation for another country that doesn't have regulations/awareness around oxybenzone). It's not actually being sold by Neutrogena in the US any more.
- alsdjfklasjdf 4y ago
  Ingredients move back and forth between lots all the time! I would trust the last-mile seller to be more correct than the manufacturer website! Check on https://www.cosdna.com/ https://www.cosdna.com/ a distributed effort to document what is being sold where at different times. If you look that site, any big brand (and neutrogena, which is just a front for J&J today, is the biggest you can get) will show dozens of variations for each product. All around the same geographic region and time frame.

scythe 4y ago

The persistence of these *benzones in sunscreen is largely an American problem. As of 2019, the FDA had not approved any new sunscreen ingredients in two decades: https://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/regulations/spf-sun/news/21842892/dsm-nutritional-products-inc-dsm-seeks-fda-sunscreen-monograph-approval-of-bemotrizinol https://www.cosmeticsandtoiletries.com/regulations/spf-sun/n... So if you live outside the US, you probably see very different ingredient lists.

qgin 4y ago
Pretty much every other country has better and less toxic sunscreen than the US, but unfortunately we categorize sunscreens as drugs and there’s not enough money in sunscreen do the kind of trial FDA requires for new drugs.
- vkou 4y ago
  Why should sunscreen, which you smear your body with be put through a less rigorous process to ensure safety, than, say, any one of the topical drugs prescribed by doctors?
  - qgin 4y ago
    Soaps, lotions, all manner of potions go straight to the consumer because they're not marketed as drugs. It only counts as a drug if you want to claim on the package that it has a biological effect. The FDA process as it's set up now isn't about safety necessarily. It's about whether you're allowed to claim your product has an effect. If you want to say it protects against UV light, that's going to cost you about $20 million. If it's for a product you don't even have a patent on, that's just not going to happen.