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Agency pushes sunblock ratings

The FDA proposes more precise labeling and product testing.

By ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published August 24, 2007

WASHINGTON - It may be the summer of '09 before beachgoers can count on finding sunscreens to protect against the deeper, penetrating rays linked to wrinkles and cancer.

The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday proposed long-delayed rules covering the ingredients, labeling and testing of sunscreens that boast of protecting against both the sun's ultraviolet B rays, which cause sunburn, and the ultraviolet A rays that cause tanning but also are associated with more serious and longer-term damage.

The proposed rules keep in place the SPF, or sun protection factor, numerical rating system for UVB protection, while tweaking the testing requirements. The FDA proposes capping the highest SPF value at 50.

The proposal would add a requirement that sunscreen makers assess UVA protection in the laboratory and on people as well if they want to make any claim that their products protect against those rays, whose damage is rarely immediately apparent.

Until recently, most sunscreens sold in the United States have filtered out mostly UVB but not UVA rays - even if they promised broad protection.

The proposed rules would institute a four-star system to rate the UVA protection provided by sunscreens and spell out the protection level as "low," "medium," "high," or "highest."

FDA announced its intent to draft sunscreen rules in 1978 and published them in 1999. The agency then put them on indefinite hold until it could address issues concerning both UVA and UVB protection.

While the FDA said it would work to expeditiously finalize the rules, it will be at least several years before they take effect.

A final rule would take effect some time in 2009, at earliest.

[Last modified August 23, 2007, 23:08:35]