The AAD fully supports need for further research.

Due to concern about the deleterious effect of ultraviolet filters on aquatic ecosystems and the species that live within them, including coral, the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine is urging the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)  to carry out an ecological risk assessment of UV filters to better understand the potential problems they may pose.

“The EPA should focus on environments more likely to be exposed such as those with heavy recreational use, or where wastewater and urban runoff enter the water,” committee members wrote in the new report,

What’s more, the risk assessment should cover a broad range of species and biological effects and could consider potential interacting effects among UV filters and with other environmental stresses such as climate change, they note.  “While the need for a risk assessment is urgent, research is needed to advance understanding of both risks to the environment from UV filters and impacts to human health from changing sunscreen availability and usage.”

The American Academy of Dermatology supports the new recommendations.  “As the report released today makes clear, the science in this area is limited and inconclusive. In addition, the Academy supports the recommendation that studies be conducted to determine how any changes to the availability of UV filters would impact human health,” says Mark D. Kaufmann, MD, FAAD, president of the American Academy of Dermatology. He cautions that it’s important that everyone protect their skin from exposure to the sun’s harmful UV rays.

The Personal Care Products Council (PCPC) and  member companies also support the call for further study. "The key conclusions confirm PCPC's long-held position that there is currently insufficient relevant and reliable scientific data to conduct realistic ERAs and there is not enough scientific data to support sunscreen ingredient bans,” the group wrote in a statement,

“Policymakers, regulators and legislators should not make any decisions that impact consumers' access to FDA-approved sunscreen UV filters until the scientific community reaches an informed consensus.”

The Public Access to SunScreens (PASS) Coalition also applauds the new report’s call for more data before banning non-mineral sunscreens.

“The report’s findings make clear there is a scientific consensus around the public health risk from sun exposure and the benefit from sunscreens, “ says Rich Gold, former Clinton Administration EPA official and senior advisor to the PASS Coalition. “However, there is no scientific consensus at this point on the impact of sunscreens in the marine environment. As a former EPA regulator, I don't think the data are there today to justify restrictions on the use of sunscreen in marine environments. To impose such restrictions today is to place hypothetical risk to the environment above known risk to human health.”

The PASS Coalition supports local and global efforts to address the major threats to coral reefs such as warming ocean temperatures due to climate change, land run off, and wastewater management. We encourage the EPA to promptly consider the NAS committee’s recommendations for a risk assessment that should inform future policy decisions on sunscreens.

Given the importance of sunscreen for public health and the lack of conclusive data about its impact on the environment, we urge lawmakers not to create additional barriers for consumers to choose safe, effective and FDA-approved sunscreens to protect themselves against skin cancer and other damage from sun exposure.

Public health groups across the nation are concerned about what these bans could mean for skin cancer prevention.

"We are encouraged by the National Academies' comprehensive review of this issue that aligns perspectives from both the public health and environmental science,” says Melanoma Research Alliance Chief Executive Officer Marc Hurlbert, PhD. “Melanoma and other skin cancers remain a significant public health threat, and we want to ensure that Americans have access to – and are informed about – sunscreen and other sun safe practices needed to reduce UV exposure and prevent these cancers. We look forward to working with any and all communities to help carry out the important NAS recommendations for the benefit of public health and our environment."