Some Australian sunscreens don’t actually protect from the sun as well as they say they do. Photo: Unsplash
If you live in Australia, you’re statistically more likely to get skin cancer. According to the NSW Cancer Council, Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world. Research indicates that two out of three Australians will be diagnosed with some form of skin cancer during their lifetime, so sunscreen is generally a good seller there. But a scandal is growing in the Land Down Under, and 18 products have been pulled from shelves.
According to reports, the sunscreens being pulled didn’t actually provide the protection the makers claimed they did. As an example, Ultra Violette’s Lean Screen Skinscreen, which the bottle says has an SPF of 50+, only afforded an SPF of 4.
“The preliminary testing indicates that this base formulation is unlikely to have an SPF greater than 21,” Australia’s Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) said in an update.
The TGA recalled 18 products, but named 21. Ten others have been ordered to halt sales until investigations are done. As a skin cancer hotspot, Australia has strict restrictions on how sunscreens are marketed and sold.
“The scandal has caused a massive backlash from customers in the nation, but experts have warned it may also have global implications,” the BBC wrote. “Problems have been identified with both the manufacture of some sunscreens and the integrity of lab testing relied upon to prove their SPF claims.”
A manufacturer of the base formula in the sunscreens, Wild Child Laboratories Pty Ltd, is on its back foot in the wake of the reports, and it claims that there were manufacturing issues on its end. Wild Child Laboratories has stopped making the base formula as a result, the TGA said.
“The discrepancies reported in recent testing are part of a broader, industry wide issue,” said Wild Child Laboratories boss Tom Curnow in a statement.
