Five Suffered Severe Burns from Flammable Sunscreen

Five victims have been severely burned by a product meant to protect us from that very thing: sunscreen. The disturbing news accompanies a warning from the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to exercise greater caution when using sunscreen sprays. These varieties of sunscreen can combust and catch fire when close to an open flame and cause severe burns, such as those indicated in reports.

All five of the victims in the reported incidents were severely burned after the sunscreen product caught fire while being used, and all five required hospital treatment.

The varieties of sunscreen that are reportedly responsible for these horrific injuries are no longer on shelves, but there are still several brands that carry these products and there’s no way to estimate how many of the products could end up burning the consumer – literally.

According to the FDA, there are many consumer products that are considered highly flammable because of their high contents of ingredients such as alcohol and other flammable chemicals. Some flammable products include these sunscreens, hair products, insect repellents, among others. Any of these items can ignite if exposed to a naked flame.

The FDA made some recommendations based on these new reports: if you apply a sunscreen labeled as flammable, consider avoiding approaching any open flames, sparks or ignition sources.

Most combustible products will carry clear warnings that open heat sources should be avoided during use. However, in the cases of these sunscreen burn cases, the sunscreen had already been applied to the victim’s skin. The burns resulted when the sunscreened skin was ignited because of close proximity to flame sources such as a cigarette lighter, candle, welding equipment or barbeque grill.

Consequently, the FDA warns that these products may still be highly flammable even after application and the skin feels dry, so extreme caution should be exercised whenever using spray varieties of sunscreen. In the event that you are injured after a product malfunctions, the personal injury lawyers in Phoenix at Phillips Law Group are here to help. Call us today at 1-800-706-3000 for your free consultation.