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Banana Boat Sunscreen Can Cause Severe Burns in Children

Banana Boat Sunscreen Can Cause Severe Burns in Children

Health Canada is a Canadian federal institution responsible for safety and health regulation and compliance, cosmetic and health products, and pre-market medications. This ministry is currently investigating the Banana Boat sunscreen after receiving complaints of second-degree burns that would be caused by sunscreen after skin application on young children and especially on babies.

Banana Boat Sunscreen Can Cause Severe Burns

Sunscreen and burns

Since May 2017, Health Canada has received several complaints after the use of various products in the Banana Boat range and in particular sunscreen, have caused, after their application, various skin reactions and irritations including burns on young children. An investigation is currently underway to determine if these products are the real cause of these allergic reactions.

It all starts when Rebecca Cannon posts pictures of her 14-month-old second-degree daughter burned to her Facebook page after Banana Boat brand children's sunscreen spray. On these photos, there were clearly blisters and burns on the child's face.

Following this publication, similar skin reactions have been reported by other parents on social networks. In response to various complaints filed with Health Canada, Banana Boat Canada, a subsidiary of Edgewell Personal Care Canada, warned in a news release that these reactions would be isolated cases and that for some people, hypersensitivity to an ingredient may be triggered or worsened by the sun and a rash may result from this type of photoallergic reaction and in some more severe cases, blisters may develop. The company also claimed that its children's sunscreen products are being tested under the supervision of certified pediatricians to confirm that they can be used by them.

Banana Boat Canada also states that Banana Boat Sunscreens are in a neutral pH range, which means they are safe for human skin and do not cause chemical burns. The company strongly advises users to thoroughly test any product before use or to consult their physician before application, if there is a risk of sensitivity to certain components.

Nonetheless, in 2012, Banana Boat sunscreen products had already been recalled after it became apparent that they had certain risks and could cause skin burns. .

A testimony that puts into perspective the facts

Dr. Julie Powell, a pediatrician, dermatologist and professor at the Sainte-Justine University Hospital in Montreal, said none of the components of the Banana Boat sunscreen could cause burns after application to the skin, but that allergic reactions that would be caused by the sunscreen spray would be more allergic reactions to an active component of the product such as an additive or a preservative.

Since the initiation of the investigation by Health Canada, the Edgewell Personal Care Canada group manufacturing Banana Boat products has provided the federal institution with certificates of analysis and test results on its sunscreens that confirms that these comply with the authorized specifications and regulations in force for these products.

Health Canada has itself analyzed the components present in each of the sunscreens, objects of various complaints. Laboratory tests have been conducted to identify all active ingredients and to ensure that the tested products comply with the regulations in force. Additional laboratory tests, such as pH level determination and general examination of the samples, were also performed. The complexity and the duration of these tests being variable, a date of results and interpretation is still at the moment, unknown.

According to dermatologist Ari Demirjian, a board member of the Association of Dermatologists of Quebec from 2000 to 2012 and spokesperson for the solar prevention week for the Canadian Dermatology Association, any sunscreen marketed could cause an allergic reaction and especially in young children and more often, following a reaction to benzophenones or perfumes as was already advancing, Dr. Julie Powell, pediatrician, dermatologist and professor at the University Hospital of Sainte-Justine in Montreal.

For the time being, and pending the official results of the various tests conducted by Health Canada, it is not possible to state conclusively that the Banana Boat sunscreen is directly related to all events. skin allergies, objects of the various complaints filed with the Canadian federal institution.