Canthaxanthin, a yellow pigment found in mushrooms, crustaceans, and fish, is approved by the FDA as a food additive but not as a tanning agent or medication. Tanning pills containing canthaxanthin can cause liver damage, anemia, and eye problems. It is being studied for treating photosensitivity conditions, but pregnant women and those with allergies to vitamin A or carotenoids should avoid it.
Scientists first discovered canthaxanthin, a common yellow carotenoid pigment, in edible chanterelle mushrooms. The chemical also occurs naturally in crustaceans, carp, green algae, Pacific salmon, and golden mullet. Considered a coloring agent and antioxidant, canthaxanthin is approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as a food additive, in which case only small amounts are used.
Some tanning pills incorporate this pigment which, when ingested, accumulates in the oily layer of the skin and produces a golden hue, simulating a tan. Although canthaxanthin theoretically increases the skin’s resistance to ultraviolet light due to its antioxidant effects, the FDA does not approve the use of this product as a tanning agent or medication. The copious amount required to induce a skin-coloring effect has been linked to a number of side effects, including liver damage, aplastic anemia, and canthaxanthin retinopathy, an eye condition in which yellow deposits accumulate in the retina.
Researchers have studied canthaxanthin for use in treating conditions that cause abnormally high levels of irritation and sensitivity to sunlight, including drug-induced photosensitivity, eczema, and erythropoietic protoporphyria, which is a genetic disorder. During the warmer months, when patients receive more sun exposure, doctors prescribe 60 to 90 milligrams of canthaxanthin per day. Patients generally use the pills for three to five months each year.
Due to its chemical similarity and possible conversion to vitamin A, patients with allergies to vitamin A or carotenoids should not take this product. Canthaxanthin is fat soluble and can be stored in the body for long periods of time. For this reason, in addition to their unknown effect on a developing fetus, pregnant women and nursing mothers should refrain from using these pills.
Canthaxanthin can cause unpleasant side effects, including diarrhea, nausea, stomach cramps, and reddish-orange body discharge. It can also lead to the development of a dry, itchy rash, known as hives, or hives in allergy sufferers. Aplastic anemia, a dangerous and life-threatening condition in which the bone marrow does not make new blood cells, can occur with the use of these carotenoid pills. Reported in 1989, the ingestion of tanning pills induces the reversible deposition of yellow crystals in the retina of the eye, associated with the reduced ability of light-sensitive cells to detect light at lower levels. Considering the possibility of liver toxicity along with the other drawbacks of this additive, the FDA issued a health warning in 2003 to all companies marketing products containing this chemical.
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