New publication examines the safety of sunscreen active ingredient octocrylene using existing toxicity data

Critical Reviews in Toxicology has just published a paper assessing the safety of octocrylene using existing toxicity data. This is the latest in a series of publications assessing commonly used ingredients in sunscreen products, including avobenzone, ensulizole, and benzophenone-4.

The paper, “Comprehensive review of octocrylene toxicology data and human exposure assessment for personal care products,” examined the existing (animal and non-animal) toxicity and human exposure data for octocrylene. The review found no evidence of the chemical’s effects on immune tissues or the estrogen, androgen, or thyroid systems, nor a likelihood of neurotoxic, genotoxic or carcinogenicity effects. The authors conclude octocrylene is unlikely to pose human health risk when used in sunscreen products at up to 10% (the permitted maximum usage level in the United States, Canada, and Australia).

The review was co-authored by the Personal Care Products Council, Symrise AG, Proctor & Gamble, the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Imperial College London, Michigan State University, and others.

This paper joins several other recently published articles assessing the UV filters:

• Norman KG, Kaufman LE, Griem P, Loretz L, Kowcz A, Cohen SM, Scialli AR, Boobis AR, Jacobson-Kram D, Schoeny R, Rosol TJ, Williams GM, Kaminski NE, Guengerich FP, Nash JF. Comprehensive review of ensulizole toxicology data and human exposure assessment for personal care products. Crit Rev Toxicol. 2025;55(7):716–734.
• Norman KG, Kaufman LE, D’Ruiz C, Loretz L, Kowcz A, Cohen SM, Scialli AR, Boobis AR, Jacobson-Kram D, Schoeny R, Rosol TJ, Williams GM, Kaminski NE, Guengerich FP, Nash JF. Comprehensive review of avobenzone (butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane) toxicology data and human exposure assessment for personal care products. Crit Rev Toxicol. 2025;55(6):662–692.
• Punt A, Baltazar MT, Nicol B, Cable S, Hewitt NJ, Cubberley R, Spriggs S, Dent MP, Li H. Building confidence in PBK model predictions in the absence of human kinetic data: benzophenone-4 case study. ALTEX. 2025. doi.org/10.14573/altex.2501211.
• Baltazar MT, Cable S, Cubberley R, Hewitt NJ, Houghton J, Kukic P, Li H, Malcomber S, Nicol B, Pendlington R, Punt A, Reynolds J, Scott S, Spriggs S, Dent MP. Making safety decisions for a sunscreen active ingredient using next-generation risk assessment: benzophenone-4 case study. ALTEX. 2025;42(3):511-530.