Sunscreen
Many exotic chemicals are used in sunscreen and they cause ecological, environmental and personal health issues that stem mainly from their ability to disrupt the endocrine system.
Each month for a year, sea-water was collected and analysed to see how much of these chemicals were present, to see the relationship between beach use and sea-water contamination. These chemicals have been noted to have a pseudo-hormonal action which encourage the growth of breast cancer while also inducing the feminization of male fish (Bratkovics et al. 2015; Díaz-Cruz and Barceló 2009; DiNardo and Downs 2017). Additionally, this contamination of sea water is thought to be responsible for the bleaching of coral reefs (Downs et al, 2013; Danovaro et al. 2008; DiNardo and Downs 2017).
They are endocrine disrupters (Downs et al, 2013; Kim and Choi 2014; Hong et al. 2016; Rubio et al. 2019) and interfere with thyroid excretions (Díaz-Cruz, and Barceló 2009; Schmutzler et al. 2007) while Benzophenone was found to have a 1000 times higher activity than the steroid hormone oestradiol (Díaz-Cruz, and Barceló 2009), it was also found to be antiandrogenic (Suzuki et al. 2005). Oestradiol is a major female sex hormone and androgen is responsible for male traits and development. Therefore, these products have an ability to heighten the development of female traits while inhibiting the development of male traits which explains the feminisation of fish and other living things.
The by-products of sunscreen have been found in human milk (Suzuki et al. 2005; DiNardo and Downs 2017) and therefore affect the development of humans from when they are babies. Furthermore, pseudo-estrogenic compounds from sunscreen have been shown to produce abnormal male sexual development in foetuses by affecting the seminal vesicles that secrete the fluid in semen, the coagulation gland that aids sperm motility and caused an enlargement of the prostate, while also causing a narrowing of the urethra at the neck of the bladder (Hofkamp et al. 2008; Downs et al, 2013; Heo et al. 2018). They have also been linked to Hirschsprung’s disease, which is a disease of the gastrointestinal tract (DiNardo and Downs 2017) and have been confirmed as contact allergen and photo-contact allergen with some potential to induce contact urticaria and, to a lesser degree, contact-mediated anaphylaxis (DiNardo and Downs 2017; Wong and Orton 2011).
The chemical Padimate O, sometimes called octyl-dimethyl PABA, is safe in the dark but it has been found to mutate after just 15 minutes of exposure to sunlight to cause DNA damage and skin cancer (Knowland et al. 1993) as does other chemicals in sunscreen (Gallagher et al. 1984). However, Padimate O is claimed as safe by manufacturers and is used in sun protective lip balm called Blistex and is even supplied in a Disney characters children’s version.
The disinfection by-products present in swimming pool and drinking water makes it mutagenic and these by-products have been linked to asthma and bladder cancer (Richardson et al. 2010).
References:
Bratkovics, S., Wirth, E., Sapozhnikova, Y., Pennington, P. and Sanger, D. (2015). Baseline monitoring of organic sunscreen compounds along South Carolina's coastal marine environment. Marine pollution bulletin, 101(1) 370-377. Available from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025326X15300850
Danovaro, R., Bongiorni, L., Corinaldesi, C., Giovannelli, D., Damiani, E., Astolfi, P., Greci, L. and Pusceddu, A., 2008. Sunscreens cause coral bleaching by promoting viral infections. Environmental health perspectives, 116(4), pp.441-447. Available from https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.10966
Díaz-Cruz, M.S. and Barceló, D. (2009). Chemical analysis and ecotoxicological effects of organic UV-absorbing compounds in aquatic ecosystems. TrAC Trends in Analytical Chemistry, 28(6) 708-717. Available from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0165993609000727
DiNardo, J.C. and Downs, C.A. (2018). Dermatological and environmental toxicological impact of the sunscreen ingredient oxybenzone/benzophenone‐3. Journal of cosmetic dermatology, 17(1) 15-19. Available from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/jocd.12449
Downs, C.A., Kramarsky-Winter, E., Fauth, J.E., Segal, R., Bronstein, O., Jeger, R., Lichtenfeld, Y., Woodley, C.M., Pennington, P., Kushmaro, A. and Loya, Y. (2014). Toxicological effects of the sunscreen UV filter, benzophenone-2, on planulae and in vitro cells of the coral, Stylophora pistillata. Ecotoxicology, 23(2) 175-191. Available from https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s10646-013-1161-y
Gallagher, C.H., Greenoak, G.E., Reeve, V.E., Canfield, P.J., Baker, R.S.U. and Bonin, A.M. (1984). ULTRAVIOLET CARCINOGENESIS IN THE HAIRLESS MOUSE SKIN INFLUENCE OF THE SUNSCREEN 2‐ETHYLHEXYL‐P‐METHOXYCINNAMATE. Australian journal of experimental biology and medical science, 62(5) 577-588. Available from https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1038/icb.1984.55
Heo, S., Hwang, H.S., Jeong, Y. and Na, K. (2018). Skin protection efficacy from UV irradiation and skin penetration property of polysaccharide-benzophenone conjugates as a sunscreen agent. Carbohydrate polymers, 195, 534-541. Available from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0144861718305320
Kim, S. and Choi, K. (2014). Occurrences, toxicities, and ecological risks of benzophenone-3, a common component of organic sunscreen products: a mini-review. Environment international, 70, 143-157. Available from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0160412014001585
Hofkamp, L., Bradley, S., Tresguerres, J., Lichtensteiger, W., Schlumpf, M. and Timms, B. (2008). Region-specific growth effects in the developing rat prostate following fetal exposure to estrogenic ultraviolet filters. Environmental health perspectives, 116(7) 867-872. Available from https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/pdf/10.1289/ehp.10983
Hong, H., Rua, D., Sakkiah, S., Selvaraj, C., Ge, W. and Tong, W., 2016. Consensus modeling for prediction of estrogenic activity of ingredients commonly used in sunscreen products. International journal of environmental research and public health, 13(10), p.958. Available from https://www.mdpi.com/1660-4601/13/10/958
Knowland, J., McKenzie, E.A., McHugh, P.J. and Cridland, N.A. (1993). Sunlight‐induced mutagenicity of a common sunscreen ingredient. FEBS letters, 324(3) 309-313. Available from https://febs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1016/0014-5793%2893%2980141-G
Rao, G.S., Tokuda, H., Ichiishi, E., Takasaki, M., Iida, A., Suzuki, N., Konoshima, T. and Kapadia, G.J. (2013). Oral chemoprevention of skin cancer in mice by benzophenone sunscreens dioxybenzone and octabenzone in drinking water. Anticancer research, 33(6) 2535-2540. Available from http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/33/6/2535.short
Richardson, S.D., DeMarini, D.M., Kogevinas, M., Fernandez, P., Marco, E., Lourencetti, C., Ballesté, C., Heederik, D., Meliefste, K., McKague, A.B. and Marcos, R., 2010. What’s in the pool? A comprehensive identification of disinfection by-products and assessment of mutagenicity of chlorinated and brominated swimming pool water. Environmental health perspectives, 118(11), pp.1523-1530. Available from https://ehp.niehs.nih.gov/doi/full/10.1289/ehp.1001965
Rubio, L., Valverde-Som, L., Sarabia, L.A. and Ortiz, M.C. (2019). Improvement in the identification and quantification of UV filters and additives in sunscreen cosmetic creams by gas chromatography/mass spectrometry through three-way calibration techniques. Talanta, 205, 120156. Available from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0039914019307829
Schmutzler, C., Bacinski, A., Gotthardt, I., Huhne, K., Ambrugger, P., Klammer, H., Schlecht, C., Hoang-Vu, C., Grüters, A., Wuttke, W. and Jarry, H. (2007). The ultraviolet filter benzophenone 2 interferes with the thyroid hormone axis in rats and is a potent in vitro inhibitor of human recombinant thyroid peroxidase. Endocrinology, 148(6) 2835-2844. Available from https://academic.oup.com/endo/article/148/6/2835/2502083
Suzuki, T., Kitamura, S., Khota, R., Sugihara, K., Fujimoto, N. and Ohta, S. (2005). Estrogenic and antiandrogenic activities of 17 benzophenone derivatives used as UV stabilizers and sunscreens. Toxicology and applied pharmacology, 203(1) 9-17. Available from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0041008X04003539
Wong, T. and Orton, D. (2011). Sunscreen allergy and its investigation. Clinics in dermatology, 29(3) 306-310. Available from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0738081X10002105?via%3Dihub