Class Action Claims Coppertone Defend and Care Sunscreen Contains Undisclosed Carcinogen Benzene [UPDATE]
by Erin Shaak
Last Updated on September 30, 2022
Bangoura v. Beiersdorf, Inc. et al.
Filed: January 18, 2022 ◆§ 1:22-cv-00291
A proposed class action claims Coppertone Defend and Care Whipped Ultra Hydrate SPF 50 sunscreen contains an undisclosed carcinogen.
New York
September 13, 2022 – Coppertone Spray-On Sunscreen Settlement Site Is Live
The official website for the $2.3 million Coppertone spray-on sunscreen settlement is live and can be found here:
https://www.2022coppertonesettlement.com/
To file a claim for compensation, head to this page and enter the notice ID and confirmation code you received with your personalized settlement notice. If you did not receive a notice ID and confirmation code, hit the “Click Here” option on the right to begin filing your claim.
All claims must be filed online or postmarked by November 7, 2022 at 8:59 p.m. PST. If you do nothing and the deal becomes final, you will not receive a payment, even if you’re covered by the settlement, and will give up the right to sue Coppertone later over the allegations covered in the case.
Class members can choose to receive payment via prepaid Mastercard, PayPal, Venmo, Zelle or direct deposit into their bank account.
Payment will begin to be distributed to eligible consumers if and when the settlement receives final approval from the court and any appeals are resolved. To contact the settlement administrator or plaintiff’s attorneys, head to this page.
Don’t miss out on settlement news like this. Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.
August 22, 2022 – Coppertone Spray-On Sunscreen Class Action Settled for $2.3 Million
A New York court has given preliminary approval to a $2.3 million settlement to end the proposed class action detailed on this page.
United States District Judge Brian M. Cogan signed off on the deal on August 2. The settlement covers all consumers who purchased any of the following Coppertone products prior to August 2, 2022:
- Pure & Simple SPF 50;
- Pure & Simple Kids SPF 50;
- Pure & Simple Baby SPF 50;
- Sport Mineral SPF 50;
- Sport SPF 50;
- Sport SPF 30;
- Sport SPF 15;
- Complete SPF 50;
- Complete SPF 30;
- Glow Shimmer SPF 50;
- Glow Shimmer SPF 30; and
- Kids SPF 50.
Court documents state that class members who submit valid claims with proof of purchase will receive the full purchase price for each Coppertone product on the above list, including taxes. Consumers who submit valid claims without proof of purchase will receive the average retail price for up to six sunscreens per household, plus a 10-percent allowance for sales tax, as determined in good faith by the settlement administrator.
Buyers who submitted claims in the recall of the Coppertone sunscreens listed above will have their settlement payment reduced by the amount they received via the recall, settlement documents add. Final amounts may be increased or decreased depending on the number of claims submitted.
In addition to providing compensation to consumers, defendants Beiersdorf, Inc. and Bayer also agreed to carry out testing for the presence of benzene in the covered sunscreen products for at least 18 months.
Payment will begin to be distributed to consumers who file valid claims after the settlement has received final approval and any appeals have been resolved.
ClassAction.org will update this page when the official settlement website—2022CoppertoneSettlement.com—goes live.
Don’t miss out on settlement news like this. Sign up for ClassAction.org’s free weekly newsletter here.
Beiersdorf, Inc. and Bayer Healthcare, LLC face a proposed class action that claims their Coppertone Defend and Care Whipped Ultra Hydrate SPF 50 sunscreen contains an undisclosed carcinogen.
The 26-page case echoes several other lawsuits filed in the wake of a study published by analytical pharmacy Valisure LLC, who said it had discovered concerning levels of benzene, a substance linked to leukemia and other cancers, in various sunscreen products, including Coppertone Defend and Care Whipped Ultra Hydrate SPF 50.
According to the case, consumers who purchased the Coppertone product were misled by the sunscreen’s packaging and labeling, which includes no mention of the presence of benzene. The suit says consumers have lost the benefit of their bargain by purchasing a product that is unsafe for use and “entirely worthless” due to its contamination with the toxic substance.
The lawsuit relays that scientific studies have shown there to be no safe level of benzene exposure, especially when the “incredibly dangerous” substance is applied to the skin, where it can be easily absorbed into the bloodstream. The presence of benzene in sunscreen is “particularly dangerous,” the suit says, given the application of sunscreen typically involves using a significant amount of the product and reapplying it later. According to the case, even a low amount of benzene in a sunscreen can result in a high level of exposure.
In light of the foregoing, Valisure’s May 2021 citizen petition to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is “particularly concerning,” the lawsuit argues. Per the complaint, Valisure detected benzene in numerous sunscreen products, including the Coppertone Defend and Care sunscreen at issue in this case.
The level of benzene found in the Coppertone product, notably, was among the lowest of the sunscreens in which benzene was detected by Valisure. According to Valisure, a product with benzene levels of less than 0.10 parts per million “warrants further investigation but is likely of less concern than products with a defined value of 0.10 ppm or higher.”
Nevertheless, the lawsuit states that according to the FDA, benzene is a “Class 1 solvent” that should never be used in the manufacture of drug products, due to its “unacceptable toxicity,” unless its use is unavoidable in order to achieve the product’s therapeutic benefits. The suit notes that because most of the sunscreens tested by Valisure did not contain benzene, its presence in sunscreen products is not unavoidable.
The case claims that reasonable consumers are concerned about what they put into and onto their bodies and thus would not have purchased the Coppertone sunscreen had they known it contained benzene.
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