Advocating for you — Sun safety
We believe the public should use sunscreen along with seeking shade and wearing sun-protective clothing to prevent skin cancer. Until there is scientific evidence to support adverse effects, the FDA and the AAD believe it’s premature to ban certain ingredients in sunscreens or certain sunscreen products. Such bans can also create doubt and uncertainty about a tool that we rely on to help reduce skin cancer incidence.
This year, Hawaii introduced legislation prohibiting the sale or distribution of sunscreens containing avobenzone and octocrylene. Both the AADA and Hawaii Dermatological Society (HDS) urged legislators to consider the public health consequences of removing access or attaching stigma to sunscreens containing certain ingredients.
The AADA and HDS provided the crucial physician’s perspective, with industry groups including the Personal Care Products Council, the Consumer Healthcare Products Association, the PASS Coalition, and the American Chemistry Council offering other important viewpoints. This small but mighty coalition prevailed.
While we stopped this bill for this year, Hawaii already set a troubling precedent in 2018 by becoming the first state to enact a law prohibiting the sale of sunscreen products containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. The legislation regarding avobenzone and octocrylene will likely return in 2022. We will continue to partner with HDS to ensure the legislature fully considers the public safety consequences of removing an established product that protects against skin cancer.
