Benzene Found in Acne Creams Including Proactiv, Clearasil | Hacker News Reader

Benzene Found in Acne Creams Including Proactiv, Clearasil

bloomberg.com

32 pointsmfiguiere17 comments

The part that is concerning is that Benzoyl Peroxide decomposes at a very high temperature (>100C), but the compound does produce free radicals that may be reacting with something else to produce Benzene. Saying that improper storage is causing this, is not sufficient.

If tomorrow, the coloring agent and the sweetener in Coke Zero, when kept out in the summer, react with each other to produce Fentanyl, we shouldn't focus on the fact that drink was left out. We should focus on the fact that two ingredients could potentially react and form chemicals that can cause harm.

It's from the breakdown of benzoyl peroxide, if you're wondering.

Then is this newsworthy? Is this just a harmless side effect of the actual chemicals used towards the drugs efficacy? Or is this especially dangerous? I cannot get access to the article

You can read the article at https://archive.ph/oZcqu

It's not clear that this side effect is harmless.

It's the "increases your lifetime cancer incidence" kind of dangerous.

But so does breathing. How does that danger balance in relation to other factors?

...that depends, are you normally breathing benzene?

No, but I breathe oxygen radicals 24 hours a day and so do you. A study about the free radical content of the air in a bag of Lay's Potato Chips is pretty pointless despite it being proven to cause cell death.

Your argument is that the study isn't worthwhile because it's "obvious" through other means?

Have you met consumers? That Lays study seems valuable...

Benzene - Safety Data Sheet

https://www.airgas.com/msds/001062.pdf

It's not good for you.

https://archive.is/oZcqu

Important takeaway:

If you use benzoyl peroxide creams, store them correctly. Heat turns them carcinogenic.

> Proactiv’s 2.5% benzoyl peroxide cream, manufactured by Taro Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., contained as much as 1,761 parts per million of benzene during Valisure’s stability testing, while a similar cream from Target reached 1,598 parts per million and a treatment from Estee Lauder Cos.’s Clinique hit 401 parts per million. A 10% benzoyl peroxide cream from Reckitt Benckiser Group Plc’s Clearasil initially tested just at the FDA limit, but jumped to 308 parts per million of benzene after being exposed to high temperatures for more than two weeks.

FDA says 2ppm is safe limit.

ppm sounds kind of the wrong thing to consider here. Like my intuition says it's the absolute amount rather than the relative abundance. It was a long time ago that I had acne but I remember with some of those creams you just needed a tiny amount. With sunscreen on the other hand, you need quite a lot since you are covering your whole body. Though if you just use it for your two week vacation it may not be a huge deal compared to the guy that is living in a sunny place and using it half the year.

Agreed! I wonder if 2ppm is a global limit, or one set specifically for benzoyl peroxides creams...

I looked into it further and it seems "Class 1 solvents such as benzene should not be employed in the manufacture of drug substances, excipients, or drug products because of their unacceptable toxicity. The guidance notes that if benzene use is unavoidable to produce a drug product with a significant therapeutic advance, then its levels should be restricted to 2 parts per million (ppm), unless otherwise justified."

This research smells like industrial sabotage. Benzoyl peroxide is cheap and effective. The alternatives are either expensive (adapalene), loaded with potential side-effects (accutane), or far less effective (salicylic acid). The study is claiming decomposition at 50C (122F). Who the hell keeps their acne medication in an oven?

Is anyone actually surprised by this? You buy something with benzene in the ingredients list, it's gonna to have benzene in it.

The labels list benzoyl peroxide. Nothing is hidden

They are not the same.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzene

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzoyl_peroxide

Here's some other relatives much closer to benzene. Check out the health effect sections of each.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benzoic_acid

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toluene

Benzene is particularly bad.

> The American Petroleum Institute (API) stated as early as 1948 that "it is generally considered that the only absolutely safe concentration for benzene is zero".

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