It appears that moisturizing creams are no longer a safe option, a new study published in the August 14 issue of the Journal of investigative Dermatology has revealed.

It has been a bad year for the cosmetic industry in charge with products meant to keep our skin healthy. Earlier last month, the Environmental Working Group found that four out of five brand-name sunscreens are not adequate for consumers, after testing about 1,000 products. These products also failed to adequately protect consumers or contain chemicals that may pose health hazards.

The worst faring were sunscreen products with an SPF rating of 15 or higher. Around 85 percent of them included ingredients which are not tested for safety or are already considered health risks, or simply did not shield UV rays appropriately.

Now the new study comes to underline once again that we might not be safe when using moisturizing creams after sun exposure. The creams not only do not protect against the negative effects of the sun, but they also may contribute to the spread of skin cancer.

Allan Conney and colleagues at Rutgers University in New Jersey tested four common skin creams on gene-altered hairless mice, which were previously exposed to heavy doses of cancer-causing UV light.

The moisturizers involved in the study were as follows: Dermabaze of Patrick Laboratories in Minneapolis, Dermovan, of Galderma Laboratory Inc. of Fort Worth, Texas, Eucerin Original Moisturizing Cream of Beiersdorf of Hamburg Germany, and Vanicream of Pharmaceutical Specialties Inc., in Rochester, Minn.

The study found that these creams caused a type of skin cancer called squamous cell carcinoma, which are highly treatable, grow slowly, and are fatal only if patients fail to have them removed. Moreover, there were more tumors on the animal treated with moisturizers than on mice that were only given UV radiation.

“I think it raises a red flag indicating that there's a need to determine whether or not these products could cause this problem in people,” Conney said.

The association was highly contested by several leading dermatologists who were skeptical about it. They are basing their theory on the fact that moisturizers are not sunscreens. Consequently, it is not sure whether they were producing skin cancer or not. People should first avoid too much exposure to the sun’s light or use a sunscreen every time they do. However, with the latest findings on sunscreens, people are safer if they reduce tanning as much as possible.

“The components in moisturizers are tested. There's no evidence for this being a problem in humans,” Dr. Steven Feldman, professor of dermatology at Wake Forest University said.

However, this study does not confirm that people using moisturizers are exposed to the same risks as mice were. The researchers are now urging companies making moisturizers to conduct studies on their own in order to see if any of their findings apply to humans too.

The latest statistics on skin cancer are not encouraging sun exposure. According to the American Cancer Society, melanoma affects about 60,000 people each year and kills about 8,500. Worse than this is that the rates of skin cancer appear to have doubled lately, which might be caused by wide use of moisturizers.