Panic in Australia as 18 sunscreens removed over skin cancer fears | World | News
A staggering 18 sunscreen products have been pulled from shelves in Australiaover concerns they do not provide the levels of protection claimed by manufacturers. The country has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, with two in three Australians diagnosed in their lifetime. The sunscreen scandal began in June when consumer advocacy group Choice Australia released a damning report based on its testing of sunscreens.
The flagged products included one that claimed to offer a sun protection factor of 50+ but was measured at only SPF4 in the analysis. Eight products have now been recalled or are no longer being manufactured and sales of 10 more have been paused. Two others are being reviewed.
An investigation by Australia’s medicines regulator, the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), found the 20 sunscreen brands shared the same base formula.
It said: “The preliminary testing indicates that this base formulation is unlikely to have an SPF greater than 21.”
Sunscreen contains active ingredients that prevent UV rays from damaging your skin. A higher SPF number indicates a greater level of protection.
The numbers tell you the time the skin will take to redden with the sunscreen versus the amount of time it will take to redden without the sunscreen, the British Skin Foundation explains.
So if you have appropriately applied an SPF 15, it would take your skin 15 times longer to go red as compared to having no sunscreen on.
The TGA noted that each company adds different amounts of excipients such as fragrances and colour tints to the base formulation, which may affect the SPF.
It has notified all companies responsible for affected products and is considering whether to take regulatory action.
The TGA added: “The current SPF testing standard requires a test to be performed on at least 10 different people, with more tests required if any of those tests provide an invalid result.
“The SPF is the mean (average) of the SPF from each valid test. To claim that your sunscreen is SPF 50+, the average SPF must be at least 60.”
