A new law will give consumers more confidence in sunscreen products, but the Cancer Society says people should not neglect other sun-smart measures if they want to reduce their skin cancer risk. Photo: francescoridolfi.com
A new law regulating sunscreen comes into force today.
Sunscreen companies will be fined if they do not meet safety standards.
The Cancer Society said the new regulations would give consumers more confidence in the sunscreen products they bought, but warned people also needed to adopt a broader range of sun-smart behaviours to reduce their skin cancer risk.
Cancer Society chief executive Lucy Elwood told Morning Report the society would ultimately like to see sunscreen regulated as a therapeutic product, as it is in Australia.
"New Zealand has one of the highest rates of skin cancer and melanoma in the world and if it's regulated as a medicine there's a few additional quality control steps that happen in the manufacturing process that we'd like to see."
She said consumers' confidence in sunscreen products had been "rocked" by past revelations of some not meeting their labelled SPF claims, but noted the "vast majority" of sunscreens in New Zealand met the Australian standard.
"People should know what they're buying but I think we still have a job in New Zealand to raise awareness of what SPF means, because people often think the difference between, say SPF30 and SPF50, is a lot bigger than just 1 percent extra protection," she said.
"Well over 90 percent of the New Zealand market already meets [the Australian standards] so really the quality of sunscreens in New Zealand isn't why we're seeing the highest rates of skin cancer here, it's the broader sun-smart behaviours we all need to work on."
"I think we still have a job in New Zealand to raise awareness of what SPF means" - Cancer Society chief executive Lucy Elwood
The society hoped the additional regulations coming into force today would "help consumers feel more confident", but Elwood said it was important people did not neglect other measures they could take to reduce their risk of skin cancer.
"Kiwis should use sunscreen; we've got really high levels of UV in this country, and as part of that broader suite of sun-smart behaviours it really does help to reduce your skin cancer risk".