Tests cast doubt on sunscreens

The magazine tested 15 sunscreens

Some of the UK's most popular sunscreens may not be as effective as they claim to be, a report suggests.

Researchers at Which? magazine tested 15 leading creams, with sun protection factors of between 15 and 30.

They found that some provided less protection than they claimed while others did not block out damaging UVA rays as effectively as they claimed.

However, manufacturers have rejected the findings saying the tests were unreliable and misleading.

Leading brands

The researchers tested leading creams from high street chemists Boots and Superdrug and others from cosmetics firms, including Simple and Nivea.

See the results in full

They found that Boots' Soltan 12-hour moisturising sun lotion provided a SPF of 10, compared to 15 advertised on the bottle.

Superdrug's Solait lotion was found to have a SPF of 11, not the 15 it claimed.

Simple's sun protection lotion had a SPF of nine, compared to the 15 it claimed.

The researchers also carried out tests to see how effective some sunscreens were at protecting against UVA rays, that can contribute to skin cancer and aging.

A children's sun spray from Nivea claimed a UVA star rating of three. However, tests suggested it was actually two.

Suprerdrug's Solait green sun protection spray had a UVA star rating of four. But again tests suggested it was just three.

Malcolm Coles, editor of Which?, called on manufacturers to carry out better tests on their products.

"The SPF on the label should reflect the lower end of the range, so people aren't putting themselves at risk.

"Manufacturers need to work on more robust test methods to reduce inconsistencies and ensure we're getting the protection we're promised."

'Grossly misleading'

However, high street chemists have attacked the findings.

Mike Brown, suncare scientific adviser at Boots, denounced the report as "grossly misleading".

"As a responsible retailer and manufacturer of suncare we have the utmost confidence in Soltan.

"We have re-tested Soltan SPF 15 Lotion and this confirmed the original test result of SPF 15.

"We would like to take this opportunity to reassure our customers that we are confident Soltan SPF 15 protects them at the correct level.

"We understand from conversations with the Consumers' Association that they used a piece of equipment that we have found unreliable in the past for their testing."

In a statement, Superdrug also rejected the findings.

"The safety of our customers is paramount and we operate a strict safety testing policy for all Superdrug Solait sun protection products," it said.

"As soon as Which? made us aware of the alleged problem with our Solait SPF15 Sun Lotion and SPF30 Kids' Sun Spray, we immediately conducted further independent tests, at several different reputable test houses.

"The results of these independent tests confirm that both our products meet their claimed SPF and star rating - results clearly in contrast to those published by Which?"

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Sunscreen test results
Brand	SPF Claimed	Which? SPF	UVA Claimed	Which? UVA	Overall Which? Rating
Ambre Solaire	15	18	***	***	Good
Boots Soltan	15	10	*****	*****	Poor
Delph	15	12	****	****	Fair
Hawaiin Tropic	15	13	****	****	Good
Lancaster	15	15	None	**	Good
Lancome	15	17	None	***	Good
Nivea Sun	16	18	***	***	Good
Piz Buin	15	19	***	***	Good
Simple	15	9	****	***	Poor
Superdrug Solait	15	11	****	****	Poor
Ambre Solaire Kids	30	31	****	****	Very good
Boots Soltan Kids	30	33	*****	*****	Very good
Nivea Sun Kids	30	34	***	**	Poor
Sainsbury's Blue Parrot	30	28	****	****	Good
Superdrug Solait Kids	30	27	****	***	Good
Source: Which?