Potential Dangers of Alcohol-Based Sunscreens
- Daniel Hogan, MD
Since this article does not have an abstract, we have provided the first 150 words of the full text.
Excerpt
To the Editor. —It has been reported that certain topical medications, including Retin-A gel (Ortho Pharmaceutical Corp, Raritan, NJ), Erygel (Herbert Laboratories, Irvine, Calif), Cleocin-T topical solution (The Upjohn Co), and Solbar PF 15 liquid (Person and Covey, Inc, Glendale, Calif) are highly flammable because of their alcohol content.1,2 I have confirmed these observations and determined that the new Solbar PF 30 liquid sunscreen (70% SD alcohol; Person and Cobey, Inc), Pre-Sun Active 30 Clear Gel sunscreen (69% SD alcohol; Bristol-Myers Squibb Co, Princeton, NJ), and Clinique oil-free sunblock (15 SPF [sun protection factor], 36% alcohol; Estee Lauder Clinique, Melville, NY) are also highly flammable.
The Solbar PF 30 liquid sunscreen recommends "keep away from open flames." The Clinique product does include the following statement: "Common sense caution; flammable. Do not use near flames or while smoking." It may not be "common sense" to assume that a sunblock is
