Most generic sunscreens on the market contain benzenes which are a cancer-causing agent.Benzene is cancer-causing. It is not used as an ingredient in sunscreens. While contamination is an ongoing issue, the evidence doesn’t show that most products contain it. One 2021 study found just over a quarter of the sunscreens they tested were contaminated, but most had very small amounts of benzene and did not contain enough to meet the FDA’s recall threshold.
The main claim in the post, that most sunscreen products contain the cancer-causing chemical benzene, is misleading. Bad information about health can cause direct harm, such as encouraging risky behaviour around sun exposure. It can also undermine medical experts and public health messaging and damages understanding of important health issues. We have written before about false claims by