It’s Wednesday March 6, 2024 and I'm here in San Diego for the annual American Academy of Dermatology meeting. Right at the eve of the biggest meeting in Dermatology worldwide, I'm learning about a recent Citizens Petition from an independent testing laboratory Valisure on the presence of high levels of benzene - a known carcinogen - in a concerning range of very popular OTC benzoyl peroxide (BPO) products for acne (e.g. Proactiv, Clearasil, PanOxyl).
Read the full report here from Valisure: https://shorturl.at/fgM02
Some key hits:
- 70 out of 76 of non-BPO products (92%) had no detectable benzene or values below 0.1 parts per million.
- 90 out of 94 BPO products (94%) resulted in the detection of benzene often with values well above 2 ppm in an initial analysis.
- Follow on stability testing at elevated temperatures showed even higher levels for a range of BPO products.
These are acne treatment products we as dermatologists recommend every single day to our patients and are used by millions of adolescents and adults worldwide. While the majority of the time, these products sit in a temperature controlled store or bathroom it is common to travel with these products or have them in a bag that can easily be exposed to elevated temperatures on a hot day (e.g. in a hot car). What is the most concerning to me is that this isn't about adulteration or a one off issue - it's more about how BPO can breakdown to benzene at alarming rates and concentrations. Of course, we need some time to make sure the findings are true, the testing methods sound, and there is still considerable uncertainty on the direct clinical harm.
I've long advocated for greater regulation in the safety and performance of cosmetics all the way back in 2017 where we the first to report global adverse events attributed to personal care products in JAMA Internal Medicine: https://shorturl.at/iGITZ.
"If it were my family member or my patients, I'd actually, right now— and I can't believe I'm saying this—recommend that they not use over-the-counter benzoyl peroxide products for acne until we get more data and figure this out. And, you know, I don't say that lightly." — Dr. Steve Xu, Geologie's Lead Dermatologist
We were highly supportive of the late Senator Dianne Feinstein and U.S. Senator Susan Collins work in introducing the Personal Care Products Safety Act which finally got passed into law in 2023: https://shorturl.at/jvMV3. We wrote again about our support for this bill all the way back in 2018: https://lnkd.in/gvChp2c4 is the first bill in 80 years that strengthens the FDA's oversight of this industry. As dermatologists, we need to continue to be a bigger voice in advocating for the safety and efficacy of all products used to address major skin problems - whether they require a prescription or not.
Some press coverage:
If you want to participate more in this conversation with me on LinkedIn, please see the original post of this article here.
