The Food and Drug Administration says several active ingredients in sunscreen are absorbed into our body instead of sitting on the skin. That’s not a guess – the information is courtesy of a new study, where researchers found that the ingredients absorbed into the bloodstream was as much as 40-times higher than the threshold amount.
What’s unclear is if the chemicals tested by the FDA are harmful when there is systemic exposure. The four ingredients in question are avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene and ecamsule.
Does this mean you should skip the sunscreen? No. The FDA says people should continue to protect their skin from the sun while further testing occurs. "Studies need to be performed to evaluate this finding and determine whether there are true medical implications to absorption of certain ingredients," Yale School of Medicine dermatologist David Leffelltells CNN. “People should continue to be aggressive about sun protection."
Source: JAMA