Sunscreen study finds ingredients may seep into bloodstream

Tuesday, May 7, 2019
Sunscreen study finds ingredients may seep into bloodstream
A new study finds ingredients in sunscreens may seep into your bloodstream.

Robyn Robison made sure her two kids, 6-year-old Sophia, and 3-year-old Niko, wore sunscreen while playing at Pullen Park in Raleigh.

"You want to do the best for them," Robison said.

A new study found that ingredients in sunscreens could seep into your bloodstream.

"It was a small study but interesting done by the FDA," said Dr. Jennifer Ashton, ABC News Chief Medical Correspondent. "They took about 24 people, had them apply sunscreen to 75 percent of their body four times a day, tested their blood levels. Within 24 hours, they found what they called statistically significant levels of four ingredients."

The FDA is calling for more safety data on sunscreen chemicals.

But this doesn't mean the ingredients are harmful.

The FDA is still urging everyone to apply sunscreen of at least 15 SPF and to take protective measures such as wearing hats and sunglasses, because of the risk of skin cancer.

Since skin cancer runs in her family, Amanda Wogaman, of Fuquay-Varina, said she'll keep making sure her children, 5-year-old Cameron, and 3-year-old Patrick, wear sunscreen when they go out in the sun.

"What's worse-skin cancer or having it absorbed into your bloodstream and really do we know at this point what that means?," Wogaman said.

Both Wogaman and Robison said they research the ingredients in their sunscreen.

"I don't want them to burn," Robison said. "I want them to get Vitamin D but I also don't want to put chemicals on them so using the organic makes me feel a little bit more confident that I'm doing something that's good for them."

"You weigh the pros and cons, do you let them go without sunscreen and get burned and have to deal with that or do you do a little more research and look at the products that you're putting on your kids and pay attention to those types of things and go with what is best for your family and the research you've done?," Wogaman asked.

Last month, the FDA announced ingredients in mineral sunscreens are safe.