Does sunscreen in your blood hurt you?
The banned sunscreen ingredients and their impact on human health: a systematic review.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists looked at 29 studies to see if chemicals from sunscreen that get into your blood cause health problems.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 526 / 100
Evidence Score
The highest quality evidence. These studies systematically search, appraise, and synthesize results from multiple individual studies, providing the most reliable summary of current knowledge.
Not medical advice. For informational purposes only. Always consult a healthcare professional. Terms
Scientists looked at 29 studies to see if chemicals from sunscreen that get into your blood cause health problems.
No biological mechanisms were identified in this study. This may be an epidemiological, observational, or survey-based study that reports associations rather than proposing causal biological pathways.
Systematic Reviews & Meta-Analyses
Max 100Randomized Controlled Trials
Max 90Cohort Studies
Max 72Case-Control Studies
Max 58Cross-Sectional Studies
Max 44Case Reports & Case Series
Max 30Expert Opinion & Narrative Reviews
Max 526 / 100
Evidence Score
The highest quality evidence. These studies systematically search, appraise, and synthesize results from multiple individual studies, providing the most reliable summary of current knowledge.
Publication
Authors
Suh S, Pham C, Smith J, Mesinkovska NA
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Claims (5)
Studies have looked at whether a common sunscreen chemical called oxybenzone affects people’s ability to get pregnant or have healthy babies, and so far, there’s no clear link — it doesn’t seem to hurt fertility in men or women.
Using sunscreen with oxybenzone doesn't reliably mess with your thyroid hormones—some studies say it might lower them a bit, but most say it doesn't do anything noticeable, even in pregnant women.
Most studies say that using sunscreen with oxybenzone while pregnant doesn’t seem to harm the baby’s growth, brain development, or when they hit puberty—but one study found baby boys might be a bit heavier, and another linked it to a rare bowel condition.
A study found that women with higher levels of a common sunscreen chemical (oxybenzone) in their bodies also had more protein in their urine, which can be an early sign that their kidneys aren’t working as well as they should.
Some studies suggest that teens who have more of a common sunscreen chemical (oxybenzone) in their bodies may have lower testosterone levels, but other studies didn’t find any link to fertility problems—so it’s not clear if this really matters yet.