Partner Brian M. Ledger co-authored an article with two prominent toxicologists entitled "Comparative Health Risks from Benzene in Sunscreens," published in The Brief by the American Bar Association ("ABA") in its recent 2024 issue.
The article discusses the growing number of toxic tort and class-action lawsuits focused on consumer products containing minute quantities of unexpected contaminants. The contaminants targeted in these lawsuits have ranged from heavy metals to PFAS to volatile organic compounds, like benzene, and many other substances. According to the authors, although these legal actions focus on the presence of contaminants, the concentrations of such contaminants are often so minute as to be of no consequence.
This article focuses on one particular example: the detection of benzene in sunscreens. The toxicologist authors conducted a study to determine the amount of benzene present in the tested sunscreens. The conclusion reached by the authors is that the concentrations of benzene are so low as to not pose any meaningful health risk to the consumers and that common exposures to benzene, such as from ambient urban air or food contaminants, are more impactful than any risk posed by benzene in sunscreens.
Mr. Ledger is a Partner in the Los Angeles office and Co-Chair of the national Environmental/Toxic Tort Practice Group. He serves as lead trial counsel in complex, multi-party environmental and toxic tort litigation, including actions under CERCLA, Clean Water Act/RCRA, and common law nuisance/trespass concerning contaminated soil, and surface and groundwater. He also serves as national counsel for several companies in toxic tort matters, employing his academic background in toxicology, epidemiology, risk assessment, and industrial hygiene on behalf of his clients, and regularly works with top national experts in these fields.
Read the full article on ABA's website. Subscription may be required.