Are Alpha Hydroxy Acid containing products safe?
AHAs have been safety used for many years (in fact the use of sour milk baths containing lactic acid goes back to the ancient Egyptians). In response to concerns raised by FDA, the cosmetic industry asked the Cosmetic Ingredient Review (CIR) to conduct an independent assessment of the safety of AHAs. To support this assessment, the cosmetic industry conducted studies to measure whether or not AHAs might increase the sensitivity of the skin to UV light from sun exposure. When these studies were completed, all of the available information, including additional studies conducted by FDA, were carefully reviewed by the CIR Expert Panel. The CIR Expert Panel noted that the data showed that there was a small, but statistically significant, increase in the sensitivity of the test subjects to UV radiation. The Expert Panel commented that the increase in UVR damage associated with AHA pretreatment was so slight that, in most cases, the ordinary components of a product would be sufficient to elim
