There is a great amount of confusion regarding the use of sunscreen. There is a myriad of different products on the market with SPF (sun protection factor) values ranging from 2 to over 100. Products claiming they are waterproof; products offering protection from UVA and UVB rays. Furthermore, these products are available in many different price ranges, in many different places: dollar stores, drug stores, department stores, spas and even in some physician’s offices. All of these factors make it difficult for consumers to know which sunscreen to buy, how much and how often to apply it, and how long they can stay out in the sun while wearing it.
For example, is it better to buy the SPF 100+ waterproof broad spectrum product from the local pharmacy for $9.99? Or is it better to purchase the organic SPF 20 tinted moisturizer with antioxidants and peptides for $65 at the spa? Do higher SPFs mean better protection, or does a higher price tag from a trusted professional mean a higher quality and a more effective product? Along the same lines, how are aestheticians and spa owners supposed to make the decision of which sun protection products to recommend to their clients and carry for retail sale?
New Sunscreen Testing And Labeling Regulations
In June of 2011, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) announced that starting in the summer of 2012, sunscreen products will have to undergo different tests to determine how they will be allowed to be labeled and marketed. Prior to this announcement, there had not been any parameters regarding what kind of claims manufacturers could make, what buzz words they could print on their labels, or how they could market their products in 33 years.
Think about that: Thirty-three years ago, most people thought of “sun care” as oiling up with baby oil and using those wacky foil reflectors to get as tan as possible. Sunscreens only offered SPF (UVB) protection, because people wanted to tan, but did not want to burn. Even so, it was rare to see a sunscreen product with anything higher than an SPF 15. Between then and now, sunscreen manufacturers did not have many rules regarding marketing, labeling and making certain claims about their products’ functionality and efficacy.
Times Have Changed
We have now what we did not have back then: Scientific evidence that overexposure to UVA and UVB rays cause skin cancer and are responsible for the majority of how the skin ages. The new FDA guidelines will make sure that the different claims made by manufacturers undergo thorough and standard tests, and that the products are labeled accordingly.
I recently had the opportunity to learn about these new guidelines during my interview with Timothy J. Turnham, the executive director of the Melanoma Research Foundation (MRF). Turnham is very pleased with the new guidelines, feels that they are solid, and that the laws are finally catching up to all of the information science has uncovered.
Please Click Here To Read More
