Many Britons are unaware that the SPF rating displayed on sunscreen labelling alone doesn’t guarantee all round protection from potential sun damage, a Royal Pharmaceutical Society survey into sunscreen use has found.
The survey, which saw participation from 2,000 British adults, found a worrying lack of understanding about the degree of sun protection different products provide with only 8 per cent of those surveyed knowing that the SPF rating on the product label refers to protection from UVB rays only – and does not also include protection from harmful UVA rays – typically indicated by a separate ‘star’ rating.
The survey found that nearly a quarter of the people didn’t know what the rating stood for while just over half of them thought the SPF was an indication of levels of protection from both UVB and UVA.
Further, less than a third of those surveyed said they always checked the UVA star rating when buying sunscreen (31 per cent), and 20 per cent of students and 15 per cent of adults with children in their household admitted that they never checked it.
Chief Scientist for the Royal Pharmaceutical Society Professor Jayne Lawrence says that the survey is an indication of huge amount of confusion around sunscreen labelling that is a barrier to effective sun protection.
“Clearly many consumers do not realise the SPF rating applies only to the amount of protection offered against UVB rays, not UVA rays – both of which can damage the skin and cause skin cancer”, added Lawrence.
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Lawrence believes that people shouldn’t have to pick their way through complicated dual ratings information to understand how sunscreen works and the amount of protection it potentially provides and that it’s about time that sunscreen manufacturers provide one easy to understand rating, based on a simple description of the total amount of sun protection offered: low, medium, high and very high protection.
The RPS is calling for one uniform measure for all sun protection products, so pharmacists can provide easy to understand advice on the effectiveness of products and how they should be used.
[Read More: Consumers still in the dark about new sunscreen labels]
Under half of those surveyed (44 per cent) always or often used sunscreen when out in the sun and a third (31 per cent) of those asked either did not know how much lotion to apply or thought they should apply less than needed to ensure protection, which according to Cancer Research UK is two tablespoons.
Only 13 per cent said they reapplied sunscreen every two hours when out in sunny weather in the UK, which is the advised amount. A quarter of those surveyed (25 per cent) said they always used sunscreen of SPF 30 or higher when sunbathing in the UK, and 30 per cent said they try to stay in the shade between the hours of 11am-3pm.
