Attention Acne Sufferers: Your Favorite Products May Be Part of a Recall!
Have you heard about the latest benzoyl peroxide recall?
Do you use benzoyl peroxide products for daily acne treatment? If so, the FDA has just announced that a small number of products containing benzoyl peroxide may have possible benzene contamination.
IMPORTANT NOTE: This recall is at the retail level and not the consumer level. That means that onlinepanies are voluntarily removing certain products from store shelves and online marketplaces, but the FDA has not urged consumers to dispose of these products at this time.
You might stop seeing these products on the shelves…
What is benzene?
Benzene is a chemical formed in nature and from human activities that may increase the risk of cancer. However, with this recall, the levels of benzene were so low that even with daily use of these products for decades, scientists claim that the risk of a person developing cancer is very low.
More than 90% of the products tested had undetectable or extremely low levels of benzene. Out of 95 products, the FDA found only 6 with elevated levels of benzene:
- La Roche-Posay Effaclar Duo Dual Action Acne Treatment
- Walgreens Acne Control Cleanser
- Proactiv Emergency Blemish Relief Cream Benzoyl Peroxide 5%
- Proactiv Skin Smoothing Exfoliator
- SLMD Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Lotion
- Walgreens Tinted Acne Treatment Cream
What to do if you own one of these products?
It may be helpful to note that the FDA raises concerns over the use of invalidated testing methods by third-party laboratories, which may in part, result in much higher reported levels of contaminants, like benzene, than are actually present.
Third-party laboratories are urged to report their results to consumers. If you have concerns regarding results and testing methods, you may report them to the FDA’s MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting.
Keep tabs on all the latest recalls, store closures, and more you need to know!
