Health Canada should review acne treatment cancer claims: experts

A Canadian researcher says Health Canada should review a U.S. lab's findings that common over-the-counter acne treatments contain benzene, which causes cancer.

Health Canada should review over-the-counter acne treatments that an independent lab reported could contain a cancer-causing chemical, experts said.

On Wednesday, U.S.-based Valisure lab announced it detected “high levels of benzene, a known human carcinogen,” in many products that contain benzoyl peroxide used to treat acne.

Benzoyl peroxide can break down into benzene.

Valisure said it detected the carcinogen in creams like ProActiv, Estée Lauder’s Clinique and Clearasil, at several hundred times the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) conditional limit. It called on the FDA to issue recalls.

Miriam Diamond, a University of Toronto earth sciences professor, told Global News she believes Health Canada should also be reviewing the lab’s findings.

“Benzene is well known to be harmful,” she said, saying it can interfere with the immune system, with someone’s blood system causing anemia and that prolonged exposure can cause leukemia, a blood cancer.

“We can do our own product testing here in Canada or we can rely on the testing already done,” she said.

Alberta Society of Dermatologists resident Dr. Andrei Metelitsa said the data warrants close attention while saying the findings aren’t final.