I won’t go through them though, because what ultimately matters is that Benzene and some of its products are linked to cancer, especially different forms of leukemia and bone marrow failure – it is a known human carcinogen. Fun fact, one of these conversion steps is Hydroquinone ( which I have a blogpost on here should you be interested). When Benzene enters the body, which can happen through ingestion, inhalation or absorption via the skin, it undergoes metabolization via the liver, mainly through oxidation with several different conversion steps. As it is often the case, it was only with time that we learned about its toxicity for the human body, which is why now you won’t find it in coffee, aftershave or other personal care products on purpose. Nowadays it is mostly used as a precursor in the manufacturing of more complex chemicals often used in medication, but back in the beginning of the 20th century it was used as after-shave due to its pleasant smell or even to decaffeinate coffee. It is highly flammable and has a sweet smell that you most likely could identify as it is what petrol stations smell like. What is Benzene and why is it dangerous to the human body?īenzene is an organic chemical compound that contains a ring made up of six carbon atoms and a hydrogen atom attached to each one of them, which is why it is called a hydrocarbon. They tested 294 batches of sunproducts (sunscreens and aftersun) from 69 companies and found that again 78 batches, which is roughly 27%, contained Benzene. Based on these findings they decided to expand their testing to other products and looked at sunscreens and after-sun-products next.ĭid you know the same company did find Benzene in hand sanitizers in March 2021? In this case, Valisure actually tested hand sanitizers first – they again are over the counter drugs – and, as reported in March 2021, found Benzene in high levels among 17% of the tested samples. Studies like this are very important and of great value in keeping consumers safe. To put in context here, in the US, where all that took place, sunscreens are considered Over-the-counter drugs and underlie certain regulations. They also offer different services around Drug Product Certification and the likes. Valisure is an independent lab based in Connecticut that does independent studies to, and I quote, “… independently check the chemical composition of medication before it reaches consumers.” So did I immediately throw those bottles away? Of course not.ĭid I still apply sunscreen like I used to? Of course I did!ĭoes that mean I don’t think it is an issue? No, it is actually a big issue – but maybe a slightly different one than you were led to believe. The cancer-causing chemical Benzene was found in many different sunscreens – that was the headline that made my DMs explode when I was on a supposedly chilled family hiking vacation in Bavaria.Ī trip where I, obviously, packed a ton of sunscreens to slather myself and the kids in every single day.
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