Almost half of the popular sunscreens available in the market today do not meet the sun safety standards as required. That is, most of the popular sunscreens in the United States fail to meet the recommended guidelines for sun safety.
These are the findings of a new study conducted by a team of researchers at the McGaw Medical Center of Northwestern University, in Chicago. During the study, the research team looked at the sun protection labels of 65 different sunscreens being sold on Amazon.
The selected sunscreens were among the top 1 percent of products preferred by people and sold by the e-commerce website. The team found that almost 40 percent of the selected products were devoid of minimum resistance to water and sweat, as compared to the recommended levels set by the American Academy of Dermatology (AAD).
The research team also observed a great difference in the price range of the products. For example, for some of the products, the cost was 3000 percent more than the product with similar sun protection benefits.
According to the study, author Dr. Steve Xu, the study results are surprising indeed. However, it also shows that the definition of sunscreen had broadened over a period of time. People no longer opt for pure sunscreen-specific products but are attracted to less-protective moisturisers that act as a substitute.
This is the primary reason why there are a number of products that do not meet the recommended AAD guidelines when it comes to sweat- and water-resistance capabilities. According to researchers, making sure that the skin product is sweat- and water-resistance is important when people are exposed to water or conditions that lead to high perspiration.
The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) have banned the use of the terms "waterproof" or "sweat proof" on sunscreen labels. However, the AAD recommends that people should look for sunscreens that state that it is "water-resistant."
