ARPANSA welcomes move to reduce human sunscreen testing

Sunscreen regulation reforms proposed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) on Tuesday 27 October include a reduced reliance on human testing of sunscreen products. 

The Australian Radiation Protection and Nuclear Safety Agency (ARPANSA) welcome TGA's proposed changes to allow in vitro laboratory methods to play a larger role in testing sunscreen effectiveness. 

ARPANSA scientist Dr Sean Hewson has been providing advice to the TGA on these new testing methods, which he says is something that ARPANSA has been advocating for some time.  

‘Testing on human skin presents unique reproducibility challenges and also presents notable risks to the long-term health of the test participants,’ Dr Hewson said.  

He has also been providing advice to the TGA on the ultraviolet radiation (UV) health effects arising from small differences in sunscreen’s sun protection factor (SPF).  

‘Application and reapplication habits of users are often the largest determinants of sunscreen effectiveness – most people don’t use enough!’ Dr Hewson said.   

‘Even when applied correctly, no sunscreen provides 100% protection from UV radiation and should be used as one element of a suite of sun protection measures.’  

ARPANSA’s advice is that sunscreen should be used in combination with other sun protection measures such as by adhering to the slip, slop, slap, seek and slide advice when the UV index is 3 or above. Sun protection is vital in preventing skin cancer with more than 95% of skin cancers being caused by overexposure to the sun.  

ARPANSA supports TGA's measures to improve how sunscreens are regulated in Australia so that consumers can be confident that sunscreens are effective. These are just some of the reforms slated to go ahead in response to the public consultation earlier this year. 

You can read ARPANSA's submission to that consultation here: Response 1048648665 to Improvements to the regulation of sunscreens in Australia - Therapeutic Goods Administration - Citizen Space.  

To follow the progress of these sunscreen regulation reforms, TGA will be updating their website as they implement these changes: https://www.tga.gov.au/products/regulations-all-products/tga-reforms/sunscreen-reforms  

Why is sun protection important?  

Australia experiences some of the highest levels of UV radiation in the world. As such, more than two in three Australians will be diagnosed with skin cancer in their lifetime, the majority of which are caused by UV exposure and are therefore preventable. Sun protection behaviours are extremely important to reduce this exposure and decrease the incidence of UV-induced skin cancers.  

When the UV index is 3 or above, ARPANSA recommends a combination of sun protection measures:  

Where can you check the UV forecast?