The heat is on!
Sunscreen misinformation is running rampant on TikTok, with many users claiming lathering the lotion on can be “toxic” to sunbathers, a new study cautioned.
Despite accounting for only 13% of the content related to it on the social media platform, videos sowing doubt in the merits sunblock have sent audience engagement into overdrive — racking up significantly more likes, comments and shares than those backing the product, the study, published in PLOS Digital Health, found.
It “examined the presence, engagement levels and characteristics of sunscreen-related misinformation on TikTok” by sampling the 971 most-viewed videos in late September 2024.
“There are currently no scientific indications that any ingredient widely used in ‘chemical’ sunscreens (e.g. oxybenzone) is harmful to one’s health,” researchers wrote.
“Consumers may prefer a mineral or ‘natural’ sunscreen that blocks UV rays versus a ‘chemical’ sunscreen that absorbs and deactivates rays, but both options are considered safe, and in no circumstance is not using sunscreen a safer option than using a ‘chemical’ product during sun exposure.”
Some TikTokers claimed sunscreen “acts as an endocrine disruptor” affecting hormone balance, taints breastmilk, contains microplastics and other “toxic” and “unsafe” ingredients — and also damages ecosystems.
Most videos promoted sunscreen — around 86% — to protect from skin damage, acne, aging and cancer.
Only 6% of the videos contained critiques of it, with 7% of the remaining reels viewed as neutral or basic product reviews without an explicit push to avoid sunscreen.
Nearly half of all Americans scored a “C” or lower on the American Academy of Dermatology’s sun safety quiz, despite over half of respondents saying they would rate their own habits as positive, according to the organization.
Among Gen Zers (ages 18-29), 33% received a “D” or “F” on the quiz.
“I would say 95% of the misinformation we can attribute to social media,” Dr. Marisa Garshick, a dermatologist at MDCS Dermatology in New York and a fellow at the AAD, told NBC News.
“Whether it is directly because people are seeing people talk about problems with sunscreen or indirectly where it’s somebody’s favorite influencer who’s showing that they laid out in the sun for three hours and got tan lines.”