THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES, ENGINEERING, AND MEDICINE
Division on Earth and Life Studies and the Health and Medicine Division
Ocean Studies Board
Board on Environmental Studies and Toxicology
and
Board on Health Sciences Policy
Committee on Environmental Impact of Currently Marketed Sunscreens
and Potential Human Impacts of Changes in Sunscreen Usage
*****
Congressional Briefing
Tuesday, August 9, 2022 – 11:00 a.m.
via Zoom
on
Review of Fate, Exposure, and Effects of Sunscreens in Aquatic Environments and Implications for Sunscreen Usage and Human Health
Requested by Congress in P.L. 116- 94, the Further Consolidated Appropriations Act, 2020, this new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine calls on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to conduct an ecological risk assessment of ultraviolet (UV) filters to characterize the possible risks to aquatic ecosystems and the species that live in them. 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. 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.
In addition, this report describes the role of sunscreens in preventing skin cancer and what is known about how human health could be affected by potential changes in usage. 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.
This briefing was for members of Congress and congressional staff only. The report was publicly released on August 9, 2022 and can be found, in its entirety, on the Web site of the National Academies Press.