The Food and Drug Administration issued its first regulations for sunscreen as an over-the-counter drug intended to reduce sunburn risk more than 30 years ago. Critics of the F.D.A have asserted not only that its standards have fallen behind research on skin care and cancer, but that the agency has allowed manufacturers to make vague and misleading marketing claims. Recently, Richard Blumenthal, Connecticut’s attorney general, sent a scathing letter to the agency claiming that unclear sunscreen labels and inflated marketing were placing people at risk.
