WASHINGTON, D.C. – Legislation that would protect Ohioans from the effects of harmful exposure to the sun – including skin cancer – cleared the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee today. The Sunscreen Innovation Act, cosponsored by U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown (D-OH), would strengthen the potency of U.S. sunscreen by expediting the bureaucratic review process of more effective sun protection products – made by Ohio-based companies BASF and L’Oreal – that are already available to consumers in Canada and the European Union (EU), but not in the U.S.

“Americans deserve the best possible sunscreen products available,” Brown said. “That’s why we should not let bureaucratic red tape stand in the way of protecting Americans against skin cancer. I urge my colleagues to make this a reality by passing the Sunscreen Innovation Act. With nearly 10,000 deaths from melanoma each year, it’s well past time.”

There are more than two million cases of skin cancer in the United States each year and 90 percent are the result of harmful sun exposure. Melanoma, the most deadly type of skin cancer, kills nearly 10,000 Americans a year, and yet Americans do not have access to the most advanced sunscreen that Canadians and those in the EU do.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is responsible for ensuring the safety and effectiveness of all drugs, including over-the-counter drugs, such as sunscreen, and their ingredients. But the FDA has a backlog of pending sunscreen products which dates as far back as 2003. The FDA last approved a new sunscreen product in 1999.

Two types of ultraviolet radiation (UVB and UVA) damage the skin, age it prematurely, and increase the risk of skin cancer. While American sunscreen blocks UVB—which primarily causes sunburn—American sunscreen is not as effective in blocking UVA, which can penetrate the skin more deeply and cause greater damage to the skin, and in some instances, cancer. The FDA has only approved three ingredients that block UVA that can be sold in the United States, compared with seven in Europe.

This legislation, which has bipartisan support in both the Senate and House, would:

  • Require that the initial safety and effectiveness review of sunscreen applications is conducted by an advisory committee of experts, the Nonprescription Drugs Advisory Committee (NDAC). In turn, the committee would make a recommendation to the FDA on whether an application should be approved or denied before the FDA makes a final determination.
  • Require the FDA to review its decade-long backlog of pending sunscreen applications within eight months of the bill’s passage.
  • Require the FDA to review all new sunscreen applications within 11 months of the bill’s passage.
  • Require the FDA to submit a report regarding the progress of the program to Congress one year following passage of the bill and every two years thereafter.

The bill is supported by several Ohio-based companies that have worked to reform the federal sunscreen review process: BASF, the largest chemical company in the world with a research and development (R&D) facility in Beachwood; L’Oreal, with a facility in Streetsboro; and Ashland Inc., with a facility in Columbus. Each are members of the Public Access to SunScreens (PASS) Coalition. The coalition consists of dermatologists, ingredient manufacturers, and health advocacy organizations. According to PASS, one national poll found that 86 percent of Americans support a program that allows for better sunscreen products.  

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