Does sunscreen get into your blood?
Effect of Sunscreen Application on Plasma Concentration of Sunscreen Active Ingredients: A Randomized Clinical Trial.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Oxybenzone reached plasma levels over 250 ng/mL—more than 500 times the FDA’s 0.5 ng/mL safety screening threshold—after just one application.
Many assume sunscreen chemicals are too large or inert to be absorbed significantly; this shows they enter the blood rapidly and at high levels.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re concerned about absorption, consider mineral sunscreens (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) or limit application to exposed skin only.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Surprising Findings
Oxybenzone reached plasma levels over 250 ng/mL—more than 500 times the FDA’s 0.5 ng/mL safety screening threshold—after just one application.
Many assume sunscreen chemicals are too large or inert to be absorbed significantly; this shows they enter the blood rapidly and at high levels.
Practical Takeaways
If you’re concerned about absorption, consider mineral sunscreens (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) or limit application to exposed skin only.
Publication
Journal
JAMA
Year
2020
Authors
M. Matta, J. Florian, R. Zusterzeel, Nageswara Rao Pilli, Vikram Patel, D. Volpe, Yang Yang, Luke Oh, E. Bashaw, I. Zineh, Carlos R. Sanabria, Sarah Kemp, A. Godfrey, S. Adah, Sergio G Coelho, Jian Wang, L. Furlong, C. Ganley, T. Michele, D. Strauss
Related Content
Claims (6)
When people used sunscreen as much as possible in a study, almost 1 in 3 of them got a rash — more than any other side effect.
When you slather on sunscreen with certain chemicals like oxybenzone or avobenzone really thickly over most of your body, your body absorbs a tiny bit of those chemicals into your bloodstream—so much that it crosses a safety alert level set by the FDA, which says, 'Hey, we need to study this more.'
When people use sunscreen heavily, oxybenzone—a common ingredient—gets into the bloodstream more than other sunscreen chemicals, reaching levels more than 500 times higher than what the FDA considers worth checking for safety.
When you apply sunscreen all over your body as recommended, your body absorbs some of the chemicals in it so much that they show up in your blood within a day — more than what the FDA considers a safety concern level.
If you use sunscreen lotion instead of a spray, more of the active chemicals get into your bloodstream—so lotions might leave more oxybenzone and avobenzone in your body than sprays do.