Regulator Warns of Additional Unsafe Products
Australia's medicines regulator has also raised concerns about 20 additional sunscreens from different brands containing the same base formula. Tests were conducted that suggested that the formula would not offer SPF higher than 21, and one sample was as low as SPF 4.
Of the 21 sunscreens identified, eight have been voluntarily recalled or have had production stopped, 10 have had sales suspended by retailers, and two are still undergoing investigation.
One of these sunscreens is made in Australia, but is not on sale in Australia.
Australia has the highest rate of skin cancers in the world, as two out of three Australians will need to have at least one skin cancer removed somewhere in their lifetime. Therefore, the Australian government has some of the strictest laws in the world regarding sunscreen regulations. Consumers expressed their frustrations over the sunscreen scandal and it may have international implications. There were concerns identified, in relation to both how some sunscreens are being manufactured and the reliability of laboratory testing that verifies the sunscreens' SPF claims.
Testing Labs and Manufacturers Under Investigation
The manufacturer of the base formula, Wild Child Laboratories Pty Ltd, has since ceased producing it. The manufacturer's boss, Tom Curnow, stated that the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) did not find any faults in its operation, and described the SPF problem as a broader issue across the industry.
The TGA has expressed strong concerns about the testing that was conducted by Princeton Consumer Research Corp (PCR Corp), a USA-based testing laboratory, which the sunscreen companies relied upon for SPF testing. In the TGA's update, it indicated that the tests would not be comparable to real-life SPF protection. Wild Child Laboratories stopped working with this testing facility, PCR Corp, and each product underwent re-evaluation by other accredited and independent testing facilities. Finally, the TGA confirmed they reached out to every company that used the same lab for testing, and they also wrote to PCR Corp directly, but received no response.
