Ask the Doc: SPF and Sunblock Requirements
Ask the Doc: SPF and Sunblock Requirements – In 2011, the Food and Drug Administration released a whole lot of guidelines about sunblock. If you want to know the basics, listen to Dr. Friedman.
Expert: Adam Friedman, MD, FAAD Assistant Professor of Dermatology, Director of Dermatologic Research, Associate Residency Program Director, Albert Einstein College of Medicine
Transcript
Q: Can you explain the new SPF guidelines from the FDA?
A: Last summer the FDA released their new guidelines on how sunscreens must be evaluated as well as marketed.
First and foremost, UVA, ultraviolet A radiation, is not typically the one that burns. I consider it a silent killer. You may not know you are getting exposed, but it still incurs the same damage that can result in accelerated skin aging, dark spots and skin cancer.
Before last summer, nobody really evaluated how these materials that block UVA are really effective or not. The FDA has now drafted guidelines by how companies must evaluate these products in order for them to say, broad-spectrum on the label.
The next component of the guidelines was saying whether something could be sun-protected and protect against skin cancer or not. This is determined by the number of SPF; Anything below SPF 10 really is considered not sun protected and can go on to cause skin cancer. They say that SPF 15 can protect about 94 percent of Ultraviolet B radiation. However the American Academy of Dermatology recommends that everyone use SPF 30 or higher.
Another part of the guidelines refers to sunscreen to be called waterproof. In fact, sunscreen cannot. Sunscreens can only say they are water resistant. This refers to a sunscreen ability to be applied and effectively stay on for up to 40 minutes in the water. Therefore, no matter what sunscreen you use if you are in the water for more than 40 minutes, you need to get out and re-apply.
As far as how nanomaterials are used, these materials are on the size range between one and one hundred nanometers. The FDA hasn’t really approached this yet. In terms of what is out there in the literature, everything suggests these materials do not penetrate the skin and do not cause any problems.
However there as been a great deal of controversy because when you put these materials with cells in a lab there is a much different story. These studies underestimate the complexity of the human body to compensate for these materials and get rid of them without causes the body any harm.
Last Modified: 2012-06-19
Category: Health and Nutrition, Videos
