Given recent news reports, you may be wondering if sunscreens are safe for you and your family, as well as the planet. Elizabeth Buzney, MD, an expert and member of our Photobiology Committee, helps sort it all out.
By Lorraine Glennon
The first question that sprang to mind for many people after the February 2019 announcement that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) will be issuing new regulations governing the sale and use of sunscreens was, “Sunscreen is a drug?” Cosmetics and supplements such as vitamins and herbal remedies are not analyzed by the FDA for safety and effectiveness, so it may be a surprise to learn that the agency has classified sunscreens as over-the-counter medications since 1978 and regulates them as such.
Yet according to former FDA director Scott Gottlieb, whose statement emphasized that broad-spectrum sunscreens with a sun protection factor (SPF) of 15 or higher are critical to preventing skin cancer and protecting the skin from sun damage, “some of the essential requirements for these preventive tools haven’t been updated in decades.” Hence the agency’s decision to reevaluate several of sunscreens’ key ingredients and ensure that they are GRASE — an acronym for “generally recognized as safe and effective.”
Credit: Sun & Skin News
