ISO, the International Organization for Standardization, recently issued a new technical report compiling the most commonly used methods for assessing the protection levels of suncreens.

The new ISO report [1] reviews and evaluates the methods used to measure the level of protection of sun protection products, including tables of their key parameters and elements. It applies to the sun protection factor (SPF) of a sunscreen and the ultraviolet A (UVA) protection. Both in vivo and in vitro methods are included.

Until now the plethora of methods used to determine the level of protection provided by sun protection products has made comparisons both difficult and time-consuming,” commented Prof. Philippe Masson, Convener of the working group that developed the report. The ISO technical report should help public authorities, consumers’ associations and industrials to compare methods quickly and easily, from just one document. It will be part of a series of standards which will address sun protection test methods.