Sunscreen, antiperspirant, tampons, hand sanitizer and acne cream that allegedly are tainted with dangerous compounds.
Photographer: Sam Kang/Bloomberg
It’s Not Just Sunscreen. Toxic Products Line the Drugstore Aisles
US regulators say they’re taking the issue seriously. Reports of contaminated items keep coming
Dory ‘Braylan’ Hux was a competitive middle-school soccer player from North Carolina with vigilant parents who started putting Neutrogena sunscreen on their freckle-faced son at a young age to protect his skin.
It was easy for them to apply thanks to the propellant used in spray-on sunscreens. They had no way of knowing the gas, derived from fossil fuel, wasn’t properly purified and contaminated the sunscreen with benzene, a potent carcinogen. Braylan died in 2021, just months before the sunscreen’s maker would recall the product because it contained the toxic chemical.