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Sunscreens (UV Filters)

CATEGORY: Endocrine disruptors

USED IN: Sunscreens

Growing concern about exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun and the risk of skin cancer has led to widespread use of sunscreens. Research has found that many sunscreens contain some chemicals (also used in various cosmetics) that are not only estrogenic but also lipophilic. Studies show these chemicals are accumulating in wildlife and humans (Hayden, 1997).

In a study of six common sunscreen chemicals, five of them exerted significant estrogenic activity, as measured by the increase in proliferation rates of human breast cancer cells (MCF-7 cells) grown in vitro. These chemicals were 3-(4-methylbenzylidene)-camphor (4-MBC), octyl-methoxycinnamate (OMC), octyl-dimethyl-PABA (OD-PABA), bexophenome-3 (Bp-3) and homosalate (HMS) (Schlumpf, 2001). The results for 4-MBC have been replicated in another laboratory (Klann, 2005). A recent laboratory rat study has demonstrated that application of OMC to the skin of the animals enhances the penetration of the endocrine-disrupting herbicide 2,4-D (Brand, 2007).

• View references, from State of the Evidence (Sixth edition 2010).