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Benzene detected in many sunscreen products

valisure.com

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Re: Benzene detected in many sunscreen products

#261
post #28

Neutrogena is owned by Johnson and Johnson - which just payed out on a case relating to cancer from baby-powders [1]. Combined with Neutrogena being more or less _very high_ in benezine content and J&J having a very deep suite of cancer treatment drugs [2]... This seems like a horrific story of a self-fulfilling product pipeline. I know they're a giant organization and suggesting conspiracy is a bit insane but I can'…

I didn't find neutrogena in the original article or either of your links. Where does it say that's high in benzene?

https://www.valisure.com/wp-content/uploads/Valisure-Citizen...

The table begins on page 12.

Re: Benzene detected in many sunscreen products

#262

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We know that asbestos causes mesothelioma and that J&J baby powders contained asbestos since talc/asbestos are often found together in mines. J&J knew for decades that they were shipping asbestos to consumers in a powder form that's regularly inhaled -- they ghost-wrote and sponsored studies to deny that asbestos existed in their products and lied to the FDA in their disclosures.. https://www.reuters.com/investigates…

And guess what? Aftermarket brake pads are still made with asbestos! New vehicles sold in North America no longer have asbestos pads, but if you have had a vehicle long enough to have new pads put on then your car almost certainly has asbestos pads now! https://www.theasbestosinstitute.com/2020/05/27/asbestos-in-... https://www.autoserviceworld.com/jobbernews/growing-threat-a... So, if you happen to still do your own…

As far as I know most OEM and aftermarket brake pads still contain asbestos and there is no ban on them. I read your links but they don't support the statement, "New vehicles sold in North America no longer have asbestos pads".

Re: Benzene detected in many sunscreen products

#263
post #28

Neutrogena is owned by Johnson and Johnson - which just payed out on a case relating to cancer from baby-powders [1]. Combined with Neutrogena being more or less _very high_ in benezine content and J&J having a very deep suite of cancer treatment drugs [2]... This seems like a horrific story of a self-fulfilling product pipeline. I know they're a giant organization and suggesting conspiracy is a bit insane but I can'…

> Johnson and Johnson - which just payed out on a case relating to cancer from baby-powders I asked this question in another post and did not get a reply. The US links sited state no evidence for talc causing cancer. A search of the NHS website also suggests no clear evidence [1]. Cancer Research (a respected UK charity) give a layman's summary (albeit focusing on ovarian cancer), stating no clear evidence and pointi…

It wasn't the talc, it was the asbestos located near the mines and showed up in samples taken over the years, which J&J also obscured and best and covered up at worst.

Re: Benzene detected in many sunscreen products

#264
post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The original article has a link to a petition the lab is making to the government. There they show a table of sunscreens sorted by concentration of benzene. Most of the top 20 entries are nutrogena.

I think that's a bit misleading. The clearest pattern I see in that data is that sprays are particularly bad. The top of the list is dominated by them, out of all proportion to their prevalence in the market overall. Any manufacturer who makes a lot of different products, and particularly spray products, is likely to have some entries on that list. Indeed, if you look at Appendix A (the "not detected" list) you'll fi…

Some of the products aren't even sunscreens, like "After-sun Aloe Vera Soothing Spray".

Re: Benzene detected in many sunscreen products

#265

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yikes. Had a bit of a scare: living in Puerto Rico, I regularly use Walgreens SPF50, Neutrogena sunblock and After Sun gel. The closest UPC was the After Sun, but mine was a couple of digits off. Makes you think what stuff you're putting on that you don't know about!

How are things in PR these days? I can't imagine what it must be like to deal with a pandemic while simultaneously trying to rebuild basic infrastructure. Have you been able to get back to some semblance of normalcy yet?

Things are pretty alright over here! Most of the island has recovered since the 2017 hurricane, the remaining damage (at least in the metropolitan area) is road signage and some screwed up power lines here and there.

The virus has been under control as well. We’re slowly going back to normalcy. Case numbers are dropping and so are deaths. The vaccination campaign is working.

TLDR: Things are getting better :)

Re: Benzene detected in many sunscreen products

#266

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If people could explain why they are down voting honest questions I would appreciate it. I've never heard of claimed talc-cancer links in the UK.

Slant related: I've never seen anyone asking where the upvotes came from, and that makes the opposite a bit odd across the board for me.

Well for one thing downvotes make text harder to read unless selected.

Re: Benzene detected in many sunscreen products

#267
post #28

Neutrogena is owned by Johnson and Johnson - which just payed out on a case relating to cancer from baby-powders [1]. Combined with Neutrogena being more or less _very high_ in benezine content and J&J having a very deep suite of cancer treatment drugs [2]... This seems like a horrific story of a self-fulfilling product pipeline. I know they're a giant organization and suggesting conspiracy is a bit insane but I can'…

> Johnson and Johnson - which just payed out on a case relating to cancer from baby-powders I asked this question in another post and did not get a reply. The US links sited state no evidence for talc causing cancer. A search of the NHS website also suggests no clear evidence [1]. Cancer Research (a respected UK charity) give a layman's summary (albeit focusing on ovarian cancer), stating no clear evidence and pointi…

In the US, it's been reported that black women had/have a habit of using baby powder in their underwear to stay dry down there.

The talcum/asbestos powder migrated into their reproductive organs, possibly causing cancer from the fibers irritating various linings and possibly causing cancer. I find that explanation pretty convincing.

Re: Benzene detected in many sunscreen products

#268
post #65

Gasoline has around 2% Benzene in it, by the way. That’s 20,000ppm vs 6ppm for the worst offenders here. Crazy we let teenagers pump this stuff and then the rest of us just breathe in the fumes.

Where did you get the 2% figure from? The EPA says "[t]he national benzene content of gasoline today is about 1.0 vol%"[0]. Not that 1% is much better but I'm still curious where your figure comes from. [0]: https://www.epa.gov/gasoline-standards/gasoline-mobile-sourc...

Benzene is a bit denser than gasoline, so volumetric vs mass vs molar basis aren’t directly comparable. This EPA slide deck [0] has ~1.25% by volume equated with ~1.5% by mass towards the conclusion slide. Interestingly it used to be around 5% benzene by volume before the newest standard.

So 2% on a molar basis doesn’t seem obviously inconsistent with 1 vol%

[0]: https://www.epa.gov/sites/production/files/2021-03/documents...

Re: Benzene detected in many sunscreen products

#269

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We know that asbestos causes mesothelioma and that J&J baby powders contained asbestos since talc/asbestos are often found together in mines. J&J knew for decades that they were shipping asbestos to consumers in a powder form that's regularly inhaled -- they ghost-wrote and sponsored studies to deny that asbestos existed in their products and lied to the FDA in their disclosures.. https://www.reuters.com/investigates…

And guess what? Aftermarket brake pads are still made with asbestos! New vehicles sold in North America no longer have asbestos pads, but if you have had a vehicle long enough to have new pads put on then your car almost certainly has asbestos pads now! https://www.theasbestosinstitute.com/2020/05/27/asbestos-in-... https://www.autoserviceworld.com/jobbernews/growing-threat-a... So, if you happen to still do your own…

And talc is used in many products not just Johnson & Johnson baby powder. Many are things paint, plastics, paper, rubber, insulation, ceramics. But talc in cosmetics is probably the one way where people would be applying it to their skin for long periods of time.

Re: Benzene detected in many sunscreen products

#270

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 2019, the FDA budget was 0.86% of the DOD budget. As in, not within two orders of magnitude.

A contextless number doesn’t mean much. Maybe that’s enough? Too much? Too little? The FDA doesn’t need to buy billion dollar aircraft carriers, they need to pay people salaries and equip them to investigate, test, read papers, and set standards.

It means our government prioritizes spending on war over two orders of magnitude more than the safety of its own citizens.
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