The French cosmetics giant is also being hit by litigation. L'Oréal is in the midst of up to six legal battles over new allegations of unsafe levels of benzene in its acne treatments containing benzoyl peroxide.
Up to six class action lawsuits have been filed against its CeraVe and L'Oréal brands. The focus of the controversy has been benzene, a carcinogenic chemical allegedly found in alarming concentrations in acne care products.
A Hawaii citizen filed a lawsuit against L'Oréal a year ago in Hawaii federal court claiming that the company had sold products containing benzoyl peroxide at ‘highly dangerous levels’. This product, namely La Roche Effaclar Duo Dual Acne Treatment, and citizen Jennifer Snow alleges that independent testing by Valisure, a Connectitut laboratory, revealed that the levels of benzene in these products were higher than permitted by federal regulations. Snow claims that L'Oréal never reported the presence of benzene in its products at any time and that it failed in its duty to warn consumers about the risk of this ingredient (benzoyl peroxide can degrade into benzene under normal conditions of storage and use).
These complaints coming from the United States have been led by Valisure, which has asked the FDA to recall the affected products and to review the guidelines for the industry. The FDA has not yet commented on the matter.
Benzene is a known carcinogen linked to leukaemia, blood cancers and other serious health conditions. Valisure president David Light has described the findings as unprecedented, stating: ‘The benzene in benzoyl peroxide products comes from the ingredient itself, sometimes at levels hundreds of times the FDA's conditional limit’.
Valisure also found benzene in products from Estée Lauder-owned Clinique, Target's Up & Up and Reckitt Benckiser's Clearasil. The other lawsuits against L'Oréal are not limited to products containing benzoyl peroxide.