In this video blog, Chris Bunick, MD, PhD, discusses highlights from his lecture Putting Skincare Products Under the Microscope on July 25, 2024, during the inaugural Elevate-Derm Alliance Summer Conference at the Westin Copley Place in Boston, Massachusetts.
In this video
Dr. Bunick starts with the FDA's proposed ban on formaldehyde in hair straightening products, prompted by a study linking long-term use to increased uterine cancer risk. He notes the ban was slated for April 2024 but has been delayed, and stresses that the populations using these products most — particularly Black women — carry the most risk. His counseling point for providers: ask patients whether they use hair straighteners, and if so, make sure the product contains no formaldehyde or formaldehyde-releasing chemicals.
On benzene, Dr. Bunick explains it is a known carcinogen that has turned up as a contaminant in sunscreens, antifungals, sprays, and hand sanitizers, and most recently as a decomposition product of benzoyl peroxide. Because its cancer-causing effect can be "highly delayed," he cautions against dismissing it as a short-term non-issue. Since benzene never appears on a product label, he says providers must know which products carry risk. For benzoyl peroxide specifically, he continues to prescribe it while advising "cold chain shipping and storage," recommending patients keep products at four degrees to limit decomposition into benzene.
- Ask patients whether they use hair straighteners, and steer them away from any product containing formaldehyde or formaldehyde-releasing chemicals given the increased uterine cancer risk with long-term use.
- Benzene is a regulated carcinogen whose effect is "highly delayed" — like sunburns in youth raising skin cancer risk decades later — so its long-term risk shouldn't be dismissed.
- Benzene isn't listed on product labels, so providers themselves must know which sunscreens, sprays, and other products have shown contamination in order to counsel patients.
- Benzoyl peroxide can decompose into benzene, and colder temperatures slow — though don't eliminate — that formation.
- As a stopgap, store benzoyl peroxide products at four degrees; warn patients that keeping a benzoyl peroxide cleanser in a hot shower exposes it to heat daily.
