Perhaps you have already heard that you should avoid sunscreens with Oxybenzon. We explain why and what is behind the fabric.
Oxybenzon is a chemical fabric that is available in many sunscreen due to its filtering effect. Because: Oxybenzon is impermeable to UV-A and UV-B and thus effectively protects the skin from burns.
Oxybenzon (benzophenone-3) belongs to the group of benzophenone. It is a yellowish solid that is odorless and difficult to inflammation. The fabric hardly dissolves into water, which is one of the reasons for its environmentally harmful effect.
It is scientifically proven that the fabric harms coral reefs and other organisms. In addition, the fabric is suspected of having a carcinogenic effect in humans, among other things.
Good to know: According to the federal government, benzophenone have been banned in the EU since 2023. For Oxybenzon, however, there is a current approval in cosmetics with a maximum value of six percent in products for face and lips. With cosmetics for the whole body, it is only 2.2 percent, according to the consumer center NRW (as of 2025).
So Oxybenzon affects your body
Oxybenzon is attributed to a harmful effect on the inside. For example, a research team in the journal of Journal of Cosmetic Dermatology classifies him as a photoallergenic, i.e. as a substance that can trigger certain reactions of immune defense such as redness and blister formation when first contact with the skin.
With regard to other effects of Oxybenzon on the body, scientists are still disagree:
- Another study classifies such skin reactions at Oxybenzon as statistically not relevant.
- Sebastian Ferse, marine biologist at the Leibniz Center, on the other hand, describes in an interview that the substance can cause underdevelopment in babies due to hormonal influence. Researchers: Inside the USA even fear a carcinogenic effect.
- An expert from the Havard Medical School expresses her skeptic. There are no reliable studies that confirm the harmful effect on humans.
For security, it is advisable to do without sunscreens or other products with Oxybenzon, especially if experience has shown that there are sensitive skin.
Oxybenzon can also be harmful to the environment
Oxybenzon is not only potentially critical with regard to human health. Especially in summer people apply sunscreen. A large part of it gets into the water on the beach or lake, including the fabric Oxybenzon. It does not detach himself in the water, but sinks to the bottom because of its high density and stores on corals.
The problem: Many researchers: Oxybenzon are responsible for coral death on the inside and speak of the fact that the fabric causes the bleaching previously colorful corals – the coral bleach. A study from 2015 has already confirmed this, followed by an investigation from 2017 that has observed the development of several coral reefs in the South China Sea for years. Oxybenzon was demonstrated there in over 20 percent of all corals, which developed malformations and sometimes even died out.
This is therefore a problem because coral reefs are a very important ecosystem in the sea that not only houses an enormous wealth of species, but also bind to environmentally harmful CO2 emissions.
A scientific article from 2024 shows these fears and calls for immediate rethinking for sustainability.
How can you protect yourself and your environment from Oxybenzon?
You can protect yourself and your environment from Oxybenzon by taking the following points to you:
- Check before your summer vacation, whether sunscreen with Oxybenzon is allowed at your travel destination. Hawaii and the Pacific state of Palau, for example, prohibit the use and manufacture of products that contain the material.
- Also think about whether you want to take the risk of a sunscreen with Oxybenzon. To date, it is an expert: inside the effect of the fabric on human body. Either way, the confirmed harmful effect on marine organisms remains.
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Nevertheless, do not do without the use of a sunscreen! A sunburn is extremely painful and can have late consequences for the skin. If it is already too late, find out in our guide whether you can go into the sun with sunburn.
- If you are a fan of DIY cosmetics, do without the sun protection: To make sunscreen yourself is not a good idea!
- Instead, use organic sun creams with mineral UV protection.
By the way: Oxybenzon is not the only harmful fabric in sunscreen. You should also avoid octocrylas as far as possible.
Revised by Freya Petersen
Read more on utopia.de:
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- Sunburn on the scalp: that helps against the pain
- Sunscreen myths in the check: Can you protect the skin through the right nutrition?
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