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Impacts on human health of sunscreen active ingredients used to filter ultraviolet light
Citation:
Hughes, M. AND B. McIntyre. Impacts on human health of sunscreen active ingredients used to filter ultraviolet light. SOT, Anaheim, CA, March 15 - 19, 2020. https://doi.org/10.23645/epacomptox.22572973
Impact/Purpose:
The abstract is an overall description for a workshop that will be held at the Society of Toxicology. Sunscreen is applied topically to protect oneself from the ultraviolet light from the sun. Ultraviolet light can damage skin leading to several adverse effects including skin cancer. Sunscreens are found in many cosmetic products today. Ingredients in sunscreens, which include inorganic and organic chemical types, reflect or absorb ultraviolet light, hence lessening the amount of this light coming in contact with the skin. While the inorganic type sunscreens basically do not penetrate the skin and reach the systemic circulation, there is evidence that several of the organic type penetrated the skin and are absorbed in to the systemic circulation. There is some evidence that some of the organic type sunscreens have endocrine-like activity. Public health researchers interested in endocrine effects and potentially cancer may have an interest in this workshop, as it will provide up to date information on this types of effects that may be produced by organic type sunscreens.
Description:
There are several known adverse health effects in the skin following overexposure to ultraviolet (UV) light from the sun. Acute effects from UV light overexposure include erythema, immunosuppression and burns; chronic effects include photoaging and cancer. Occurrence of skin cancer from overexposure to sunlight is on the rise, alarming many health agencies. Total avoidance of sunlight and the wearing of protective clothing are the best ways to evade the harmful effects of sunlight. However, these two practices are not always the most practical way to avoid sunlight. In addition, excessive avoidance of sunlight may result in Vitamin D deficiency, which itself has its own adverse effects such as risk for cardiovascular disease and cancer. A more convenient means of protection from UV light from the sun is the application of sunscreen onto exposed skin. Sunscreens are basically inorganic (physical) and organic (chemical) filters of UV light. The main types of inorganic sunscreens or UV filters are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, while several chemical classes are used as ingredients of organic sunscreens. Examples include the benzophenones, cinnamates and others. These organic UV filters are not in sunscreens alone but are also found in other personal care products such as cosmetics and hair sprays, and clothing. Human exposure to the UV filters is primarily topical but can occur via the lungs after using spray applicators or by the gastrointestinal tract after use of lip balms containing these chemicals. Concerns have been raised about the potential adverse health and environmental effects of the UV filters. For example, the benzophenone derivative, 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone (i.e., oxybenzone, benzophenone-3), is one of the most predominant organic chemical-based ingredients of sunscreens currently used in the United States. Oxybenzone is detected in raw and treated waste water and in coastal marine waters of Hawaii at low part per trillion concentration. Oxybenzone has been reported to be potentially photoallergenic, have endocrine-like effects in laboratory animals and have a negative impact on marine organisms such as coral. The latter effect and its detection in Hawaiian waters has led the legislature of Hawaii to ban the use of oxybenzone containing sunscreens by 2021. This session will focus on the potential human health effects from exposure to sunscreen active ingredients such as the benzophenones and cinnamanates. The first presenter will provide an overview of the dermatotoxicology of sunscreen active ingredients, with regard to past and future regulatory aspects of sunscreen active ingredients, as well as their safety and efficacy. The second presenter will summarize the results of NTP’s efforts to characterize potential 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone-related endocrine and developmental toxicity and carcinogenicity. Study designs utilized include in vitro and short-term in vivo (Endocrine Disruptor Screening Panel), rat multigenerational (including teratological) and two-year rodent carcinogenicity. The third speaker will present evidence on the effect of UV filters on the migration of human breast cancer cells. This effect has implications on breast cancer development and metastasis to other tissues in humans exposed to UV filters. (This abstract does not represent US EPA policy.)
URLs/Downloads:
DOI: Impacts on human health of sunscreen active ingredients used to filter ultraviolet light
INTRODUCTION TO SUNCREEN WORKSHOP.PDF (PDF, NA pp, 422.826 KB, about PDF)