Benzene and Sunscreen: What to know

Benzene is a harmful chemical ingredient that could be hidden in your everyday household products. Here, you’ll discover what benzene is, its dangers, and where you can find it.

Babo Botanicals tells you all you need to know about benzene and how to spot a safe, sunscreen for you and your family!

• What Is Benzene?
• Ways You Can Be Exposed to Benzene
• Dangers of Benzene
• Why can Benzene be found in some sunscreens?
• How Do You Find Sunscreen That’s Benzene-Free?

What Is Benzene?

Benzene is a chemical that can be found in nature (formed from natural processes, like volcanoes and forest fires) and in manufactured products.

It’s a colorless, flammable liquid that has a sweet smell and can quickly evaporate. It’s also among the 20 most used chemicals in the U.S.

It’s typically used in the pharmaceutical and chemical industries. Benzene is often used to make other chemicals that are needed to make plastics, resins, nylon, and synthetic fibers. It can also be used to make certain types of rubbers, dyes, detergents, and lubricants. But the main use of benzene is to make crude oil, which is used to make fuels for all sorts of vehicles.

Ways You Can Be Exposed To Benzene

You will, at some point, be exposed to benzene. A few general ways you can be exposed are through the air, through direct exposure, in the workplace, or even within your community.

A few specific ways include breathing in the exhaust from someone’s car, smelling the gasoline at the gas station while filling up your tank, or standing next to someone smoking a cigarette.

Let’s break this down a little bit more.

Through The Air

Since benzene is a chemical, flammable liquid that can easily evaporate, chances are you’ve breathed it in before.

For example, have you pulled into the gas station to fill up your tank and gotten an overwhelming scent of gas? Or what about opening up a can of paint thinners, strong adhesives (glue), or hard cleaning products? Have you ever been around cigarette smoke?

If you answered yes to any of those questions, you’ve breathed in benzene. Yikes!

Through The Skin

Sometimes accidents happen. They’re inevitable, really — like when you accidentally knock over the gas can or get some cleaning product on your hand.

In these cases, your skin has been directly exposed to benzene. But the good news is that only in extreme cases will the benzene fully absorb into your skin.

On The Job

If you work at a chemical plant, oil refinery, manufacturing plant, or gasoline refinery, exposure to benzene might be a daily occurrence. Also, lab workers, firefighters, and gas station employees may come into contact with benzene regularly.

Other possible products you may find benzene in at work are:

• Glues
• Adhesives
• Cleaning products
• Paint thinners

Now, this isn’t to say that you need to run to the emergency room right away after being exposed to benzene in any of these ways. What we are here to say is: Be cautious of your surroundings and the products you have in your home.

While you may not be able to eliminate your benzene exposure completely, you can take steps to minimize it.

(Note: Call Poison Control right away if you have any concerns or if you or someone you know has directly ingested a product with benzene.)

Dangers Of Benzene

Just like any chemical, benzene is very dangerous. It’s linked to cancer, among other health concerns.

Short-Term Effects Of Benzene

There are many short-term and long-term effects of using benzene, which is why it’s so crucial to use sunscreen without benzene in it. Benzene can affect you differently depending on how you come into contact with it.The CDC has has additional benzene facts you can research for more information.

Some of the short-term effects of inhaling benzene include:

• Drowsiness
• Dizziness
• Headaches
• Eye, skin, and respiratory tract irritation
• Unconsciousness

Ingesting benzene can cause the following short-term effects:

• Vomiting
• Stomach irritation
• Dizziness
• Convulsions

If benzene comes in contact with your skin, it can cause:

• Irritation of your eyes, skin, and throat
• Redness
• Blisters

Long-Term Effects Of Benzene

Long-term exposure to benzene (like if you work in a factory for years) causes long-term effects. The main area it affects is your blood, but some of the other long-term effects of benzene include:

• Harmful to bone marrow
• Decrease of red blood cells
• Anemia
• Excessive bleeding
• Immune system deficiencies
• Reproductive effects for women
• Cancer, specifically leukemia

Why can Benzene be found in some sunscreens?

As you’ve discovered by now, benzene is a dangerous chemical that can be dangerous for your body. Traces of this chemical have recently been found in some sunscreens, including from major national brands, and some batches contained up to three times the conditionally restricted FDA concentration limit of 2 parts per million (ppm). 

Benzene is never added deliberately into your skincare or your sunscreen, however small traces of Benzene can still be found if some of the ingredients were contaminated during the production process. That means you can’t avoid benzene simply by looking at the ingredients list and avoiding it altogether.

Benzene is a type of carcinogen, which you definitely want to avoid putting on your skin or inhaling. Getting exposed to benzene can pose various side effects, like headaches, confusion, and drowsiness. But consistent, repeated use of products that contain benzene can put you at risk of more serious complications, like cancer.

This is why it’s so crucial to use safe sunscreen without benzene in it. Sunscreens without benzene are safe for your skin and will provide needed sun protection.

So, how can you know for sure your sunscreen is safe? Let’s take a look!

How Do You Find Sunscreen That’s Benzene-Free?

Before you can decide whether a sunscreen product is safe for your family, you need to know the difference between the two main types: mineral (or physical) and chemical.

Mineral sunscreens use active ingredients of natural origin (Zinc Oxide or Titanium Dioxide) while Chemical sunscreens use synthetic active ingredients (like Avobenzone, Octocrylene among others)

Zinc oxide and titanium dioxide reflect the sun’s UV rays and bounce them away from your skin.

Chemical sunscreens work differently, by absorbing UV rays, converting them into heat and releasing the heat from the body.

(Check out our article Mineral Vs. Chemical Sunscreen: What You Need To Know To Protect Your Family to learn more.)

A study by independent laboratory Valisure found that a vast majority of sunscreens where traces of Benzene were sprays and were chemical sunscreens. It doesn’t mean you should write off sprays or chemical sunscreens all together, however you can take the following precautions:

• Avoid traditional sprays that use flammable propellants, and prefer instead air-powered sprays that use a bag-on valve technology. Indeed, experts agree that the likely cause of Benzene being found in traditional sprays could be through contamination of the propellants during the manufacturing process.
• How to know if your sunscreen uses such propellants? It can be hard since traditional sprays and bag-on-valve sprays look about the same from the outside. A simple trick is to check the ingredient list and look for ingredients like butane, isobutane, and propane. These are the clear indication those propellants are mixed with the formula to dispense the product through the sprayer.
• On the contrary, bag-on-valve sprays include a hermetic inner pouch to hold the formula. The pouch is surrounded by pressurized air which is never in contact with the formula, and helps evacuate the formula when pushing on the sprayer. At Babo Botanicals, our continuous sprays use a bag-on-valve technology for that exact reason. They come into 2 versions: our Sheer Zinc Mineral Sunscreen Spray SPF30 and our Super Shield Mineral Sunscreen Spray SPF50
• Opt for pump sprays: while these are a little bit less easy to find, they are a good alternative if you want to take the guessing out of the equation. These are basically sunscreen lotions packaged in a bottle with a pump spray. While this is a bit less practical as the spray isn’t continuous because you have to repeatedly press the sprayer to dispense the product, the benefit is that no propellant is needed. Babo Botanicals carries 2 options for pump sprays: our Swim & Sport Mineral Sunscreen Spray SPF30 and our Sensitive Baby Mineral Sunscreen Spray SPF30
• Opt for Mineral sunscreens: in the Valisure study, mineral sunscreens were found to be less likely than chemical sunscreens to contain traces of benzene, and when they did, the traces were within the FDA concentration limit of 2 parts per million (ppm).

Following these precautions will help you stay away from the risk of using a sunscreen that contains traces of Benzene, however keep in mind that they cannot guarantee it at 100% since the risk of contamination always exists. If in doubt, the best route is to ask the manufacturer of your favorite sunscreen if testing for traces of Benzene is part of the quality process or not. At Babo Botanicals, testing for traces of Benzene in our sunscreens is always part of our quality process.