Sunny side up
New regulations around sunscreen safety in Aotearoa can mean only positive things for the industry, writes Ashleigh Cometti.
Twe published a story about a new bill which required all sunscreens to adhere to sunscreen product safety standards in order to be sold in both New Zealand and Australia.
After its third hearing on March 2, 2022, the bill was passed by Parliament six days later — establishing the Sunscreen (Product Safety Standard) Act which came into effect on September 8, 2022.
A year-long transition period meant that sunscreen manufactured or imported into the country before March 8, 2022, could be supplied up until September 8, 2023.
Which means that as of right now, it’s illegal to manufacture or import sunscreen that doesn’t comply with these new safety standards.
The new law, which is regulated under the Fair Trading Act 1986, requires all primary sunscreens and insect repellents SPF4 or higher to undergo consistent and regular testing to ensure product efficacy, alongside clear guidelines regarding the SPF label and instructions on how to apply it.
A primary sunscreen is a product with the main purpose of providing SPF protection. A secondary sunscreen includes products like a tinted moisturiser with SPF, because its primary purpose is to moisturise, tint, or provide colour, while SPF protection is secondary.
Failure to comply by printing misleading claims on product labels can result in brands receiving fines of up to $600,000.
Before the law change, brands were trusted (not mandated) to align with the Australian/New Zealand sunscreen standard (AS/NZS 2604:2012) — which offered very little consumer protection.
For Martha van Arts, general manager of Cosmetics New Zealand, the new law will ensure the industry is well regulated.
The sun safety advocate, who founded waterless sunscreen brand Skinnies alongside her husband, Olly, in 2010, says it’s an exciting shift for the industry.
Cosmetics NZ, an incorporated industry body which represents many sunscreen brands, has been advocating for this change for a long time.
Martha says this blanket rule means all sunscreens available here have been reviewed to ensure compliance. “Over the last year, we’ve seen the Commerce Commission check every single sunscreen
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on the market on its claims, wording and ingredients list,” Martha says. “If you make a claim, you have to back it up.”
It took the commission 12 months to survey individual sunscreen products from0 60 different companies — from big corporates to small start-ups.
The commission worked with certified labs which use testing methods established in laboratories in Germany and Australia to see how sunscreens stacked up.
When it comes to testing sunscreen performance, Martha explains that wavelength readings are taken on human skin before sunscreen application, after application with UV light applied, and the following day to measure the UV levels.
For water resistance, the test subject sits in a spa pool heated to 28 degrees for four hours to measure how well the sunscreen lasts on submerged skin (also known as its substantivity).
It’s a long, lengthy process — one which requires brands to pay about $10,000 per product, and each test is repeated 10 times.
Cheaper in NZ than Australia
Across the Tasman, sunscreen is categorised as a therapeutic good, and can only be sold in Australia if they are listed on the TGA Australian Register of Therapeutic Goods. But the sunscreen act means all sunscreens across Australasia are being tested using the same standard — meaning the only difference between them is a jump in price.
“Sunscreens are far cheaper here than they are in Australia,” Martha says. “And as the SPF goes up, the price goes up, too. Sunscreen should be twice the price that it is given all the regulation and testing behind it.”
The new law negates the need for watchdogs like Consumer NZ to conduct their own testing and call out brands.
“I’ve had a personal relationship with Consumer magazine, first as a brand, and now representing the industry. We’ve since had a very collaborative conversation about what sunscreen regulation looks like,” Martha says.
Shoppers are now provided with a new level of assurance that what they’r purchasing will do exactly what it says it’ll do — whether they’ve read Consumer’s annual report or not.
“Now we have the Sunscreen Act, the safety standard and the Commerce Commission have reviewed everything, it’ll be interesting to see what they’ve [Consumer] got to say this year,” she says.
At a minimum, Martha says the best sunscreens available are rated SPF30, provide broad-spectrum protection and are water resistant for up to four hours. “They should also offer broad-spectrum protection to protect your skin from a) being burnt and b) cancer-causing DNA.”
Equally important is how much you’re using. Martha refers to a video she worked on with her husband, Olly, which showed exactly how much sunscreen you should be applying, and where.
“Whenever I put sunscreen on, that’s what I think about. How am I making sure that I’m covering everything,” she says. “The regulations say you need to do one teaspoon for each limb.”
Where most sunscreens are 50 to 70 per cent water, which evaporates before leaving a film on skin, Martha and Olly set out to formulate a sunscreen that was completely waterless, meaning you could use less product and still achieve the same level of protection.
A self-proclaimed staunch greenie, Martha says a number of ingredients contained within sunscreen are toxic, not just demonised oxybenzone, but actually sunscreen rates 200th on the list of things most damaging to the coral reef and marine life.
“It’s a diversion from reality,” she says, adding the best chance the corals have of surviving is to slow the progress of climate change. “There are other things we can be doing to save the reefs, like driving our cars less or eating less meat.”
Ultimately, Martha’s best advice when it comes to selecting the right sunscreen is simple: buy the one you’ll actually use. She warns of the dangers of unprotected sun exposure and says being sun smart goes even further than slip, slop slap.
“It doesn’t matter what it is, as long as you use it,” she says. “Put a hat on, sunglasses on, wear a T-shirt and sit in the shade. Sunscreen is only part of sun safety.”