Sunscreen study says SPF ratings should not be taken as red

Written by Polly Wilson for Chemistry World

Researchers shed light on discrepancies between lab tests and reality

Source: Brian Diffey Lab tests for measuring sunscreen effectiveness have some limitations.

Scientists in the UK and Switzerland say consumers should rethink how they interpret the sun protection factor (SPF) printed on sunscreen bottles.

Retailers have long used SPF to indicate how long sunscreen protected skin can endure sunlight without burning. Concerns that topical sunscreens do not provide the protection they claim are not new and arise from discrepancies between simulated and natural sunlight. Lab tests also assume consumers apply an even layer of sunscreen (2mg per cm2of exposed skin). In reality, this is in the region of 0.5–1.5mg cm–3, is far from uniform, and there are other factors, such as perspiration and rubbing, to consider.

Interested? The full story can be read in Chemistry World.

The original article can be read below and is free to access until 4th October 2017

Labelled sunscreen SPFs may overestimate protection in natural sunlight
Brian Diffey* and Uli Osterwalder
Photochem. Photobiol. Sci., 2017, Advance Article
DOI: 10.1039/C7PP00260B

Digg This
Reddit This
Stumble Now!
Share on Facebook
Bookmark this on Delicious
Share on LinkedIn
Bookmark this on Technorati
Post on Twitter
Google Buzz (aka. Google Reader)