12/16/2024 | Press release | Distributed by Public on 12/16/2024 18:16
WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) wrote a letter to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) Commissioner Robert M. Califf, expressing concern over the agency's call for manufacturers to test sunscreen ingredients on animals despite decades of human safety data supporting these products. The letter highlights the importance of ensuring access to sunscreens and that requesting animal tests to keep these products on the market undermines and jeopardizes the availability of products to prevent skin cancer in the United States.
"As you know, Congress passed the FDA Modernization Act 2.0 to allow the FDA to use data from non-animal test methods. The agency has an obligation to the public to reduce animal use in safety assessment and to apply the most reliable and human-relevant assessment strategies to evaluate sunscreens, including the use of existing safety data, ongoing clinical and consumer safety assessment, and non-animal test methods. The FDA's own public materials indicate that there is no evidence that sunscreen active ingredients are unsafe," Senator Booker wrote.
Booker stated that sunscreen technology in the United States is significantly behind other countries like Japan, South Korea, and France. Additionally, the European Union bans animal testing of cosmetics, including sunscreen.
Booker continued, "Animal testing should not be required when there are other pathways to demonstrate the safety of these products-pathways that have long been accepted in other countries."
Senator Booker called on the FDA to provide detailed responses to numerous questions, including:
To read the full text of the letter, click here.