L'Oréal-Owned CeraVe Faces Class Action Lawsuits Over Cancer Risk Allegations

Global cosmetics brand L'Oréal recently came under scrutiny after some of their products tested positive for benzene, a known carcinogen. L'Oréal is a global beauty company specializing in cosmetics, skincare and personal care products. The products that contained the cancer-causing chemical fall under L'Oréal’s skincare line, CeraVe.

In June 2026, rumors surfaced on social media platforms such as Instagram and X, that several class action lawsuits have been filed against CeraVe for exposing consumers to known carcinogens. According to fact-checker website Snopes, there are six ongoing class action lawsuits against L'Oréal.

This happened after an independent laboratory founded by former Yale students, Valisure, found high levels of benzene in some of L’Oréal’s benzoyl peroxide-containing products in 2024. Some of the products in question include CeraVe’s Acne Foaming Cream Cleanser and Acne Foaming Cream Wash.

Benzoyl peroxide is an active ingredient found in many skincare products that are used to treat acne. When exposed to high temperatures or stored for a long time, benzoyl peroxide can degrade into benzene, a known carcinogen. According to the International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC), benzene is classified as a Group 1 carcinogen. In other words, there is sufficient evidence that benzene causes cancer in humans.

The report by Valisure found that CeraVe’s cleansers contained 5 to 12 ppm of benzene. The limit set by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) specifies that any drug product should not contain more than 2 ppm of benzene. This suggests that CeraVe’s cleansers contained up to six times more benzene than the threshold set by the US FDA.

Since the report, the US FDA recently tested 95 acne products containing benzoyl peroxide for possible benzene contamination in 2025. They “concluded that a limited number of products should be recalled at the retail level” and “more than 90% of tested products had undetectable or extremely low levels of benzene”. In other words, affected retailers have been instructed to remove products from stores. However, there have been no specific instructions for consumers to take action regarding products that have already been purchased.

The US FDA has also reassured the public that “even with daily use of these products for decades, the risk of a person developing cancer because of exposure to benzene found in these products is very low”. While it is uncertain whether the aforementioned CeraVe products in question were tested by the FDA, it is suggested that the overall health risk associated with benzene exposure from such products is considered minimal.