A consumer-advocacy business commissioned single-unit laboratory tests of 35 sunscreens and one single-ingredient zinc oxide powder and published the results as a comparison chart. Lead was reported above the detection limit in 33 of the 35 sunscreens and cadmium in 29. The two products the chart labels as chemical-filter sunscreens were non-detect for lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic. The highest lead values were in zinc oxide products, and the zinc oxide powder carried more lead than any sunscreen on the chart.
Key numbers
All chart values are parts per billion (µg/kg) in the product as received, one unit per product (PDF p. 43). Non-detects are printed as ND <5 for lead, cadmium and mercury and ND <10 for arsenic. Arsenic is total arsenic and mercury is total mercury; neither is speciated.
The header counts are 33 of 35 positive for lead, 29 of 35 for cadmium, 13 of 35 for arsenic and 5 of 35 for mercury. These reconcile with chart rows 1 to 35. Row 36, the zinc oxide powder, is outside the 35.
| Group (chart rows) | Lead (ppb) | Cadmium (ppb) | Arsenic (ppb) | Mercury (ppb) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Charted chemical-filter products (rows 1-2) | ND <5 | ND <5 | ND <10 | ND <5 |
| Rows with unknown active ingredient (rows 3-8) | 7.22 to 81.28 | ND <5 to 7.44 | ND <10 to 10.41 | ND <5 to 7.43 |
| Zinc oxide sunscreens (rows 9-35) | 118.00 to 4,612.50 | 9.67 to 645.00 | ND <10 to 485.30 | ND <5 to 7.88 |
| Zinc oxide powder, 100% (row 36) | 9,474.70 | 506.20 | ND <10 | ND <5 |
Eleven rows are marked for babies in the chart’s “Kids?” column (rows 7, 8, 10, 12, 14, 20, 25, 27, 30, 31 and 34). Among the nine of these with zinc oxide in the ingredient column, lead ranged from 169.20 (row 10) to 2,140.30 ppb (row 34) and cadmium from 122.70 (row 34) to 645.00 ppb (row 30). Rows 7 and 8 have a ”??” ingredient entry and reported lead of 76.53 and 81.28 ppb. Arsenic was reported in three of the baby-marked zinc oxide rows (485.30, 135.90 and 14.92 ppb). Mercury was reported in two (7.88 and 5.29 ppb). Where the chart prints a zinc percentage for baby-marked rows it is 20.00%, 23.40% or 24.08%.
Every value by row is kept in the structured evidence record for this source.
Methods (brief)
Products were sent to a commercial laboratory with anonymised sample descriptions. The reports state ICP-MS as the method and give reporting limits of 5 ppb for lead, cadmium and mercury and 10 ppb for arsenic. They do not describe digestion, sample mass, recovery, replicates or reference materials. Each product was one purchased unit from one lot. The chart was read from its page image because its text layer is unreliable. Five rows (10, 14, 20, 27 and 31) are the same tests published separately as single-product reports; those pages are the primary record for them.
Evidence fitness
The chart supports a statement that, in these single units, lead and cadmium were commonly present in zinc oxide sunscreens at tens to thousands of parts per billion, and that the two chemical-filter products tested were non-detect. The powder row is a raw-material observation, not a sunscreen result. The eight rows marked “To Be Published” have no laboratory report in this collection and are not headline values.
The chart does not support a statement about any brand today, about lot-to-lot variation, or about what an infant absorbs. It cannot separate inorganic from organic arsenic. The chart labels lead at or above 1,000 ppb “Possibly Illegal by Washington State TFCA”, while the same page reports that state administrators say that limit does not apply to sunscreens. The Washington instrument is not in this collection, so no legal comparison is drawn here.
Limitations
One unit per product, one laboratory, and products chosen by community nomination rather than sampling. Chart version is Draft 2.1. Rows 3 to 8 have no confirmed active ingredient. No method validation for zinc oxide matrices is reported. Brand names appear on the chart itself; this page reports rows by number only.
Related evidence
- Baby Sunscreen, Mineral (ZnO + TiO2)
- Sun/suntan products, mineral UV filters (dirty sibling of r10 chemical)
- Lead
- Cadmium
- 35 Sunscreens Tested: No Benzene Detected, Lead Found in All 35. Sunscreen Contaminant Screening: Residual Solvents and Heavy Metals
- Laboratory test of a zinc oxide baby sunscreen lotion, SPF 50 for lead, cadmium, mercury and arsenic (laboratory case 2505271)
Update history
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