As part of the ongoing revision of the 2006 EU recommendation to manufacturers on the ’safety and efficacy claims for sunscreen products,’ [1] the French Agency for Food, Environmental, and Occupational Health Safety (ANSES) has submitted its recommendations to the European Commission.
Classified as cosmetic products in the European Union, sunscreen products (cream, oil, gel, aerosol, etc.) are designed mainly to protect the skin from UV (ultraviolet) rays by absorbing, dispersing, or reflecting them. The agency highlights that excessive sun exposure accelerates skin aging, causes over 80% of skin cancers, and leads to eye damage such as cataracts and retinal degeneration, both “in the short and long term.”
Child protection
At the forefront of the recommendations released on Wednesday, the French agency advocates banning ’claims specifically targeting babies and young children’ on sunscreen products, as they are the most vulnerable to the carcinogenic effects of UV rays.
“It is important to reiterate that UV exposure is strongly discouraged for babies and children up to puberty, with sunscreen recommended only as a last resort alongside preventive measures,” said Céline Druet, deputy director of the ANSES risk assessment department, in an interview with AFP.
“Claims related to children should be banned because they distort information,” the Agency explained. It also recommended that sunscreen products clearly indicate that children should not be placed under a parasol, as they remain exposed to diffused or reflected radiation.
Preventive measures—such as seeking shade, wearing protective clothing, limiting exposure time, and avoiding peak UV hours—should be listed on sunscreen products, which, according to ANSES, are only a ’complementary means’ for protecting exposed areas of the body, such as the face and hands.
The French Agency also considers the packaging of sunscreen products should provide information on the correct amount of product to apply, in a way that is easy-to-understand and consistent with the product’s formulation (cream, spray, stick, oil, foam, etc.).”
“We are quite concerned about the fact that ones do not apply enough product, especially when using sunscreen sticks instead of creams,” emphasizes Sandrine Charles, project manager for cosmetic products at ANSES. “For example, for a lotion, it is necessary to apply six teaspoons” to the body of an average adult, and to renew this application regularly.
Simplify labelling
To better inform consumers, the Agency also recommends simplifying labelling by removing the SPF and keeping only three protection categories: “low, medium or high”. The reason is that these categories encompass protection against the two existing types of UV (UVA and UVB), whereas the sun protection factor (SPF) only provides information on protection against UVB, and the “UVA” logo on protection against UVA.
“Low protection” would include products currently displaying an SPF of 15 and 20, “medium protection” those with an SPF of 25 or 30, and “high protection” SPF 50 and 50+.
“Anything below 15 is not sufficiently protective, it is of not much use, explains Sandrine Charles. And someone who applies 50+ may think that it will enjoy a very high protection, when it is almost equivalent to 50”.
ANSES also suggests another clarification: to remove any sun protection claim from the packaging of cosmetic products (day cream, foundation, lip balm, etc.) not primarily designed for sun protection purposes. The rationale behind the recommendation is that, applied once a day in small quantities, these products cannot provide sufficient protection from UV exposure.
Finally, the Agency recommends integrating the impact of UV filters on various aquatic organisms into the European recommendation, by prohibiting environmental claims that have not been duly demonstrated.
