Laboratory testing of sunscreens on the US market finds lower in vitro SPF values than on labels and even less UVA protection.

BACKGROUND: New research has attributed increased significance to the causal link between ultraviolet A (UVA) radiation and immunosuppression and carcinogenesis. In the United States, sunscreens are labeled with only their sun protection factor (SPF) and an imprecise term "broad-spectrum protection." Sunscreen marketing and efficacy evaluations continue to be based primarily on skin redness (sunburn) or erythema. We sought to evaluate the ultraviolet (UV) protection offered by common sunscreen products on the US market using laboratory-measured UV-absorption testing and comparing with computer-modeled protection and the labeled SPF values. This approach enables an investigation of the relationship between the labeled SPF and measured UVA protection, a factor that is ignored in current regulations. METHODS: Fifty-one sunscreen products for sale in the United States with SPF values from 15 to 110 and labeled as providing broad-spectrum protection were tested using a commercial laboratory. All products were evaluated using the ISO 24443:2012 method for sunscreen effectiveness. The final absorbance spectra were used for analysis of in vitro UV protection. RESULTS: In vitro SPF values from laboratory-measured UV absorption and computer modeling were on average just 59 and 42 percent of the labeled SPF. The majority of products provided significantly lower UVA protection with the average unweighted UVA protection factor just 24 percent of the labeled SPF. CONCLUSION: Regulations and marketplace forces promote sunscreens that reduce sunburn instead of products that provide better, more broad-spectrum UV protection. The production and use of products with broad spectrum UV protection should be incentivized, removing the emphasis on sunburn protection and ending testing on people.

Racial and social disparities in Ventura County, California related to agricultural pesticide applications and toxicity.

Application of agricultural pesticides poses health concerns for farmworkers and for local communities due to pesticide drift from spraying or fumigation, pesticide volatilization into the air, contamination of household dust, as well as direct exposure for people who work in agriculture and their families. In this analysis of pesticide use records for Ventura County, California (USA) from 2016 to 2018, we identified the most prevalent toxicological effects of the pesticides applied. We also developed a cumulative toxicity index that incorporates specific toxicity endpoints for individual pesticides, the severity and strength of association for each endpoint, and the reliability of the data sources. Combining the toxicity index for each pesticide with the pounds applied within each square mile section in Ventura County, we calculated the total toxicity-weighted pesticide use and identified pesticides associated with higher potential risk to health. Analysis of U.S. Census data for Ventura County found a greater percentage of Hispanic/Latino, African American and Asian community members in township sections with a greater volume of pesticides applied and higher toxicity-weighted pesticide use. Similarly, areas with limited economic and social resources had elevated pesticide application overall and elevated toxicity-weighted pesticide use. The combination of toxicological and demographic analyses presented in this study provides information that can support the development of policies to protect public health from excessive exposure to pesticides and better environmental health protection for socially vulnerable populations.

Packaged Foods Labeled as Organic Have a More Healthful Profile Than Their Conventional Counterparts, According to Analysis of Products Sold in the U.S. in 2019-2020.

The organic food market's recent rapid global growth reflects the public's interest in buying certified organic foods, including packaged products. Our analysis shows that packaged foods containing fewer ingredients associated with negative public health outcomes are more likely to be labeled organic. Previous studies comparing organic and conventional foods focused primarily on nutrient composition. We expanded this research by additionally examining ingredient characteristics, including processing and functional use. Our dataset included nutrition and ingredient data for 8240 organic and 72,205 conventional food products sold in the U.S. from 2019 to 2020. Compared to conventional foods, organic foods in this dataset had lower total sugar, added sugar, saturated fat and sodium content. Using a mixed effects logistic regression, we found that likelihood of classification as organic increased as sodium content, added sugar content and the number of ultra-processed ingredients and cosmetic additives on the product label decreased. Products containing no trans-fat ingredients were more likely to be labeled organic. A product was more likely to be classified "organic" the more potassium it contained. These features of organic foods sold in the U.S. are significant because lower dietary ingestion of ultra-processed foods, added sugar, sodium and trans-fats is associated with improved public health outcomes.

Investigating Molecular Mechanisms of Immunotoxicity and the Utility of ToxCast for Immunotoxicity Screening of Chemicals Added to Food.

The development of high-throughput screening methodologies may decrease the need for laboratory animals for toxicity testing. Here, we investigate the potential of assessing immunotoxicity with high-throughput screening data from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency ToxCast program. As case studies, we analyzed the most common chemicals added to food as well as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) shown to migrate to food from packaging materials or processing equipment. The antioxidant preservative tert-butylhydroquinone (TBHQ) showed activity both in ToxCast assays and in classical immunological assays, suggesting that it may affect the immune response in people. From the PFAS group, we identified eight substances that can migrate from food contact materials and have ToxCast data. In epidemiological and toxicological studies, PFAS suppress the immune system and decrease the response to vaccination. However, most PFAS show weak or no activity in immune-related ToxCast assays. This lack of concordance between toxicological and high-throughput data for common PFAS indicates the current limitations of in vitro screening for analyzing immunotoxicity. High-throughput in vitro assays show promise for providing mechanistic data relevant for immune risk assessment. In contrast, the lack of immune-specific activity in the existing high-throughput assays cannot validate the safety of a chemical for the immune system.