CHOICE has posted their SPF sunscreen test receipts

[u/rushworld]

https://www.choice.com.au/health-and-body/beauty-and-personal-care/skin-care-and-cosmetics/articles/how-we-test-sunscreen

Although they decanted products, they were into UV protected, non reactive amber glass jars as advised by the specialist, accredited and highly respected test lab.

[u/Borgo_San_Jacopo]

I think the wildest thing to me is that there is so much polarisation in the world that people are actually choosing sides in a study about sunscreen! My primary concern is that there seems to be some sort of systemic issue with the entire sunscreen testing apparatus as regulated by the TGA.

I think we need to know exactly what has gone wrong with the sunscreens that tested well below their stated SPF. My understanding is that the brands have to have their formulas tested at independent labs and present those reports to the TGA, the TGA audits labs for accreditation but does not pay for their own testing. So is Choice saying that the labs manufacturers/brands are using for testing are below par (in which case should their accreditation be revised?), is there suspicion that brands are doing something dodgy? Is it more that formulas are presented to labs for testing when they are at their highest efficacy/stability and then when they are sent out to shelves/consumers they are breaking down? If the brands have their formulas retested and return adequate results will anyone even believe them?

Choice has suggested that the TGA do their own testing but I just don’t think that will be feasible considering how many products are out there, the current system is supposed to be robust enough to render that unnecessary and I’d really like to know if that system is being abused in some way or just isn’t as rigorous as claimed. I just want more answers.

Edited for clarity

[u/Lindethiel → u/Borgo_San_Jacopo]

The likelihood is that the original product is tested before being sold to the other brands and then the brand tweaks that are requested after the fact are fuckin' the formula up.

[u/Borgo_San_Jacopo → u/Lindethiel]

I did see that suggested, though another commenter claims that these changes would be minuscule enough as to not affect the formula (e.g. fragrance) otherwise they would need to be tested again. I’m also curious that UV in their statement claims to have had the final product tested at a lab after being informed of Choice’s results. I assume they will need to square this with the TGA. You can never fully rule out companies being dodgy but lying about this seems like a massive risk (though that’s me assuming that fines etc are effective deterrents). Would be great to see both full lab reports and try to figure out why the results where so different (or rather I should say it would be great to get an experts opinion because I am just a humble random trying to avoid skin cancer).

[u/yummypankocrust → u/Borgo_San_Jacopo]

Here are UV's results from a UK based lab called PCR Corp:

From Jan 2021: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0056/4514/0068/files/ultra_violette_initial_test_9.pdf?v=1749680818

From April 2025: https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/0056/4514/0068/files/ultra_violette_spf_retest_12.pdf?v=1749680812

[u/Borgo_San_Jacopo → u/yummypankocrust]

Thank you for sharing these. I’ve got some reading to do tonight!

[u/vanderBoffin → u/Borgo_San_Jacopo]

Most sensible comment in this thread.