KEY POINTS:
People should not be misled by labels which suggest a single application of sunscreen products will protect them all day, a consumer watchdog warns.
"People apply much less sunscreen than is used in the standard test method, sunscreen is washed, sweated or rubbed off over time and people's vulnerability to sunburn varies," said Consumer NZ chief executive Sue Chetwin.
And a spokeswoman for the Cancer Society, Catherine Chittenden, yesterday called for New Zealand sunscreens to have to meet the standards set by Australian health officials - who ban advertisements that raise unrealistic expectations of a sunscreen's effectiveness.
The Cancer Society started the latest investigation with a complaint to the Commerce Commission in 2005, and said a report released yesterday vindicated its concerns about scary and dangerous inflated claims by manufacturers.
Five of the 10 products investigated failed to provide all-day protection with just one application as claimed.
Ms Chittenden said the organisation was unhappy that some companies were allowed to continue promoting their products as offering all-day protection and was considering legal action. Some products had targeted children, who were more vulnerable to UV exposure.
"If New Zealand had robust legislation governing sunscreens, such as there is in Australia, these products would never have been allowed on the shelves."
All sunscreens in Australia must meet mandatory standards fixed by the Therapeutic Goods Administration but the standards remain voluntary in New Zealand.
"Here in New Zealand sunscreens are treated as 'cosmetics', which is ridiculous," she said.
"Any product which people use in good faith to help prevent life-threatening conditions such as melanoma and other skin cancers is certainly not a 'cosmetic'."
- NZPA
