Yes that would be serious so I suppose in an actual specific case regarding some specific real ingredients in products, we could discuss that.

There have been cases of benzene being detected in sunscreen. It's not an intentional ingredient, just one that is common in industrial manufacturing. I don't think that's what the parent was worried about though.

https://www.ewg.org/sunscreen/beware-of-benzene-shining-a-li...

No, benzene was specifically what I was thinking of to the point that I assumed it was so well known that it wasn't question as being a thing any more. Just like asbestos in baby powder

That’s thankfully no longer really a thing - the world has realised that there is no such thing as asbestos-free talc, so baby powder is now mostly corn-starch AFAICT.

You mean in the US, right? Because J&J were known to continue to sell their talc based products internationally.

It’s certainly stopped here in Aus too, and there was a UK documentary about it a while ago implying it’s known there as well.

Beyond that, no clue.

If you drive gas car there’s far more benzene around you than in sunscreen.

Okay, and? If you can’t see a difference in benzene as a byproduct vs an ingredient people lather in their skin and rub in sold as a way to protect against skin cancer while giving you chances of a different cancer as something totally different, then your being deliberately obtuse and not contributing to this conversation in any meaningful way.

My point is benzene is all around you. You willingly breathe it vs accidental trace amounts in a vital product.

IIRC Robocop predicted this.

I mean, that’s a whole separate question really. Alongside which constituents may be long-lasting and harmful to (for example) marine life.