HOUSTON – A recent report says dozens of popular sunscreens contain a chemical called benzene.

Benzene is not a normal ingredient in sunscreen. The group that did the testing, Valisure, says it’s in 78 different products and it is linked to cancer.

In 2019, a different study made headlines claiming sunscreen is absorbed into the bloodstream. In general, that didn’t alarm too many doctors since the benefits of protecting you from skin cancer outweigh the risk of potentially absorbing sunscreen ingredients.

However, Dr. Matthew Wilber, a pediatrician at Texas Children’s Pediatrics, said benzene is bad.

“Benzene is such a toxic chemical, it shouldn’t be in our environment at all,” Dr. Wilber said.

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