Neutrogena Healthy Skin Firming Cream Contains Carcinogen Benzophenone, Class Action Alleges

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A proposed class action alleges Neutrogena Healthy Skin Firming Cream with Broad Spectrum (SPF 15) is defective in that it is contaminated with benzophenone, a known carcinogen and endocrine disruptor. 

The 29-page suit blames the alleged presence of benzophenone in the skim-firming cream on the product’s inclusion of octocrylene, a chemical whose degradation over time causes an accumulation of benzophenone, as an active ingredient. The lawsuit states that the presence of benzophenone has been shown through animal testing to lead to higher rates of cancer, including leukemia. 

According to the complaint, the presence of benzophenone in food products or packaging is banned in the United States and, under California’s Proposition 65, there is no safe harbor limit for benzophenone in any personal care products such as sunscreens, anti-aging creams or moisturizers. Although Neutrogena discloses the presence of octocrylene as one of the cream’s active ingredients, it does not disclose the existence, or likelihood of the existence of, benzophenone, the case says. 

Benzophenone is “notorious” for inducing a number of dermatological conditions, ranging from contact dermatitis and skin redness to hives and photoinduced dermatitis, the suit relays.

The lawsuit cites a study of 17 products, 16 of which contained octocrylene, were tested upon purchase and then retested after being subject to an FDA “accelerated aging” protocol meant to reflect a single year of shelf life. Per the complaint, the study found that each of the 16 items containing octocrylene “also had benzophenone at the time of purchase” and had their levels of the chemical grow after aging. In contrast, the case says, the lone product without octocrylene did not show any detectable amount of benzophenone at the time of purchase or after aging. 

“The results of the study demonstrate that sunscreen products containing octocrylene are purchased with demonstrated levels of benzophenone and that the octocrylene in sunscreen products further degrades over time and results in higher levels of benzophenone,” the complaint summarizes.

Neutrogena, the suit chides, “either knew or should have known” that its skin-firming cream contained benzophenone by way of the degradation of octocrylene. Despite its apparent commitment to “ingredient transparency,” Neutrogena has made no mention on product labels of benzophenone or the potential for benzophenone accumulation, the case alleges. 

The suit aims to represent individuals in the United States who’ve purchased Neutrogena Healthy Skin Firming Cream for personal use and not for resale. 

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