It is a product found in sunscreen, but which could be prohibited. Indeed, according to information from franceinfo, the National Health Security Agency (ANSES) filed a request on May 26 to restrict octocrylene, a sunscreen used in many cosmetics. This request is part of an assessment related to the “Reach” regulation. This is the European regulation “to secure the manufacture and use of chemical substances in European industry” as defined by Ministry of Ecological Transition.
Octocrylene: towards a restriction request made at European level by France?
“In a draft report on risk management options, ANSES recommends that the Ministry of the Environment initiate a restriction proposal at European level for octocrylene – present in particular in sun creams – taking into account the risks it presents to the environment”, says ANSES to TF1info.
Before arriving at its restriction, many steps must first be taken. According franceinfothe request would have created a “unprecedented blocking situation” within the Ministry of Ecological Transition and Territorial Cohesion. But, still according to franceinfothe government “will bring the request to the European level to analyze all the possible options, with a view to eliminating the risks linked to octocrylene. The ban, supported by France, will be one of the options studied in this context”.
The potentially deleterious effect of octocrylene on the environment and health pointed out
Octocrylene is a substance that is said to have harmful effects on the seabed. Once applied to the skin, residues of this product could attach themselves to elements of maritime life. “The accumulation of these chemical substances alters the functioning of living organisms: it will disrupt their cells and their respiration” precise At Parisian, Lucie Bittner, lecturer at the Sorbonne University. This can then cause a chain reaction and harm underwater life. As recalled by Foundation for Nature and Man, “around 25,000 tonnes of sunscreen are dumped into the sea each year”. Some regions of the world, including the Virgin Islands in the United States, have already banned octocrylene on the beaches, to preserve the environment.
In addition, the effect of octocrylene on health questions specialists. Indeed, according to a study published in the American medical journal Chemical Research in Toxicology, in 2021, a sunscreen containing octocrylene could be carcinogenic one year after opening. Indeed, octocrylene would turn into benzophenone, an endocrine disruptor. As Dr Didier Stien, one of the authors of this study, explained to franceinfo“it can cause cancer, including liver cancer. It is a molecule that affects thyroid functions and disrupts the development of reproductive organs.”
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