Acne Drug Lawsuits Say Benzoyl Peroxide Treatments Sold by L’Oréal, Walgreens, Walmart Contain Dangerous Benzene

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Several new proposed class action lawsuits allege benzoyl peroxide acne treatments made and/or sold by L’Oréal, Walgreens, Walmart and Genomma Lab are adulterated and illegal to sell since they contain undisclosed benzene, a known human carcinogen. 

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The acne drug lawsuits, filed on March 8 in California and Hawaii federal courts, say the benzoyl peroxide acne creams, washes, scrubs and bars at issue contain “unsafe levels” of benzene and are prone to further degrading into the cancerous chemical, such that the items are “materially different than advertised.” The substantively similar cases state that if benzene is found in any on-market or post-market product, the manufacturer must contact the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to initiate a voluntary recall. 

L’Oréal, Walgreens, Walmart and Genomma Lab failed to list the chemical among the ingredients on product packaging or anywhere else on the items’ labels or containers, the benzene lawsuits allege. 

The specific benzoyl peroxide acne treatment products mentioned in the cases include L’Oréal’s Effaclar Duo Dual Acne Treatment; Walgreens’ Daily Creamy Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Face Wash and Maximum Strength Acne Foaming Wash; Walmart’s Equate Beauty 10% Benzoyl Peroxide Acne Treatment, Equate Beauty Acne Facial Cleansing Wash and Equate Beauty Daily Acne Control Cleansing Cream; and Genomma’s Asepxia Acne Spot Treatment Cream.

“Defendant warned no one the Products had benzene or were at risk of benzene contamination,” two of the suits emphasize. 

Cited in each complaint is testing done in 2023 by Valisure, an independent, accredited lab known for testing drugs and consumer products for public safety. Per the lawsuits, Valisure incubated the defendants’ benzoyl peroxide-containing acne treatments at “temperatures common during consumer use, handling, and storage” and then sampled each item for benzene. 

The cases against Walgreens, Walmart, L’Oréal and Genomma Lab state that Valisure found levels of benzene as high as 1,600 parts per million (ppm) in the companies’ benzoyl peroxide-containing acne products, among other items from other sellers. The FDA’s conditionally restricted concentration limit for benzene is 2 ppm, the filings note. 

Unexpectedly, the lawsuits say, the third-party lab found that harmful benzene was released into the surrounding air even when the acne products’ packaging was closed, raising the alarm for inhalation exposure, “a particularly pernicious form of exposure to benzene,” the complaints emphasize. 

In light of this finding, the cases accuse Walgreens, Walmart, L’Oréal and Genomma Lab of failing to warn the public that their “fundamentally unstable” benzoyl peroxide acne products, which are directly marketed to children and teens, could degrade further into benzene after normal use, handling and storage. 

In 2021, Valisure tested and detected high levels of benzene in several popular sunscreen and after-sun care products and requested that the FDA take action to address the contamination. This time around, Valisure has once again urged the FDA to do something, namely request a recall and suspend sales of benzoyl peroxide in the U.S. market. 

The filings accuse the acne treatment makers and sellers of misleading the public and proposed class members by representing that the products were safe and by giving the items long expiration dates of two to three years, thereby affirming to consumers that the treatments would be good for long periods of time and not degrade into the synthetic chemical. 

“As a result of the Defendant’s misconduct and consumer deception, the Plaintiff, the Class, the Subclasses, and the public were economically harmed, as they purchased a product that they otherwise would have never purchased,” one complaint argues. “They were also physically harmed by being exposed to a known human carcinogen.” 

The lawsuits look to cover individuals nationwide who bought any benzoyl peroxide-containing acne creams, washes, scrubs and bars manufactured and/or sold by Walgreens, Walmart, L’Oréal and/or Genomma Lab. 

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