So What’s the Deal with Vitamin A in Sunscreens?

The new sunscreen FDA regulations are a great effort to restore a little honesty to sun care ads and labels; and it will also give them some credibility, as FDA’s new rules are not only establishing minimums for claims such as broad spectrum, but they’re banning unobtainable claims such as waterproof. These changes are great; but as the Environmental Working Group (EWG) pointed out, it’s not just what’s outside that counts, but inside, too.

The EWG highlighted a derivative of vitamin A—retinyl palmitate—as a “troublesome" ingredient in sunscreens that FDA has yet to address. It has an alleged reputation as a photocarcinogen, i.e., it may quicken skin tumor and lesion development on sun-exposed skin. Topical retinoids—compounds that are metabolites, analogs or derivatives of retinol and possess biological vitamin A activity—are among the most used adjunctive agents for the mitigation of fine wrinkles, mottled hyperpigmentation, and to tactile roughness of photodamaged and chronically aged skin, according to a study published by the National Toxicology Program. The one-year study was conducted in mice to determine whether retinoic acid (RA) and retinyl palmitate (RP) would alter the photocarcinogenicity of broad-UV spectrum light generated by xenon arc lamps, termed simulated solar light (SSL) or narrow spectrum UV light generated by UVA and UVB lamps.  

Researchers found the mice treated with small doses of RP and UV light developed skin tumors faster than untreated, light-exposed mice or those treated only with a control cream. They also noted there were more numerous tumors on every animal treated with retinyl palmitate.

EWG hopes FDA will step in to regulate the use of vitamin A. What do you think? Should FDA set some new rules regarding vitamin A? There seems to be a decent amount of research on the negative effects of topical retinoids. Are there other ingredients included in sunscreens that should raise a brow, too?