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Is avobenzone safe?

Health Canada and the Canadian Dermatology Association currently regard avobenzone-containing sunscreens as safe and effective for use, including in children over 6 months. Some absorbs through the skin and its long-term significance is still being studied, but regulators have not restricted its use.

A small FDA-sponsored trial found avobenzone enters the bloodstream at levels above the FDA's safety threshold with regular heavy use, though what this means for health is not yet known.

Strength of evidence

Mixed

Regulatory approval and a dermatology association safety statement are guideline-level, but the absorption data come from one small randomized trial in adults, and most endocrine-effect studies are lab or animal work, not human trials.

What the evidence says

Health Canada classifies avobenzone as an approved chemical UV filter drug ingredient in sunscreens sold in Canada, and its 2018 testing of 27 sunscreen products, many marketed for children, found no serious quality concerns. The Canadian Dermatology Association reviewed a scare about benzene contamination in sunscreens and found that avobenzone was not among the ingredients linked to benzene formation, concluding that sunscreens containing it are still safe and effective to use. The main open question is skin absorption.

A small FDA-sponsored randomized trial in 24 adults found that when sunscreen was applied heavily and repeatedly over several days, avobenzone (along with a few other chemical filters) showed up in the blood at levels above the FDA's own safety cutoff, and it seemed to linger in the body for a while. The researchers who ran this study were clear that most people use far less sunscreen than the study's maximal-use protocol, and they still recommended using sunscreen because of its proven benefit in preventing skin cancer and sunburn; whether this absorption causes any real health problem is not yet known. Lab studies (cell cultures, zebrafish, pig sperm) have raised theoretical concerns about hormone-related effects, but these are not human studies and don't tell us what happens with normal sunscreen use on children's skin.

For context, the FDA in 2019 asked for more safety data on several older sunscreen filters, avobenzone included, which is a regulatory data request rather than a finding of harm. For young children, Canadian guidance from the Canadian Paediatric Society advises against sunscreen for babies under 6 months (physical barriers like shade and clothing are preferred instead), and recommends SPF 30 sunscreen, patch-tested if your child has sensitive skin, from 6 months on. If you're concerned about chemical absorption specifically, a mineral (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) sunscreen is a reasonable physical-barrier alternative, as also noted by HealthLink BC.

Sources

✓Reviewed by CH, MD, FRCPC

Reviewed by a specialist physician certified by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada, who has read this answer against the sources listed above and confirmed it reflects them. That is not medical advice about your child. How we review

Answer checked August 2, 2026

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