Research Spotlight: Formulation matters when it comes to benzoyl peroxide

How would you summarize your study? 
 
Benzoyl peroxide is a cornerstone treatment for acne, without clear alternative. 

However, concerns have been raised about the potential formation of benzene, a known carcinogen, in some benzoyl peroxide products. This issue, though possibly not clinically significant, raises safety questions and offers opportunities for improvement.  
 
Our team pursued this research to investigate how product formulation and production processes might influence benzene levels in benzoyl peroxide containing acne products, aiming to identify strategies to minimize risks. To explore this, we re-analyzed data for 111 products, examining factors like product type, product age, and ingredients. 
 
The study highlights the importance of careful ingredient selection and production methods to make these treatments safer while maintaining their effectiveness. These findings can guide manufacturers and reassure consumers about the safety of benzoyl peroxide products.
 

What did you find? 

We found that the production process and ingredient composition had a significant association with benzene levels.  
 
For example, products with higher levels of benzene were more likely to have ingredients suggesting that they were exposed to higher temperatures during production, while products with reduced levels of benzene were more likely to have higher amounts of antioxidant (butylated hydroxytoluene) and acidic ingredients (benzoic acid). 

What are the implications? 

Our findings suggest opportunities to improve formulation, production, and distribution of benzoyl peroxide containing products to reduce the likelihood of them degrading into benzene.  
 

In addition, our results refute concerns that benzoyl peroxide products degrade into meaningful levels of benzene at room temperature, and instead much of the observed variation can be explained by formulation characteristics.  

These findings add to the discussion regarding the safety of benzoyl peroxide containing products and provide actionable hypotheses to improve the safety of these important products.  

 
What are the next steps? 

Next steps include evaluating whether modifying formulation, production, and distribution practices can reduce the likelihood of benzene being present in benzoyl peroxide containing products. 

 
Paper cited: Barbieri J et al. “The role of formulation on benzene formation in benzoyl peroxide products” JAMA Dermatology DOI:10.1001/jamadermatol.2024.6443 

Disclosures: John S. Barbieri has received consulting fees from Dexcel Pharma and Honeydew Care for work unrelated to the current submission. Michelle Wong has received content creation fees from Galderma, Johnson & Johnson, L'Oréal, Unilever, Estée Lauder for work unrelated to the current submission. The authors have no other conflicts to declare.