What's in your sunscreen?

PANAMA CITY — Candice Etheridge was already the kind of brown that makes Ohio college girls jealous, but as she lay down on Panama City Beach on Wednesday, she applied Australian Gold, a SPF 15 bronzer, to her legs.

“You get tanned, but you don’t get burned,” Etheridge said of the lotion. She had a bag full of other suntan lotions and tanning oils, and even though she seemed to be darker than George Hamilton, she still wasn’t tanned to her “full potential,” Etheridge said.

With new rules, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) is trying to make things easier for Etheridge and parents like Josh Kennedy, a Shreveport, La., resident who was applying sunscreen to his 4-year-old son, Mason, on the beach Wednesday.

Kennedy said he reapplies the sunscreen to himself and his family several times during a six-hour romp on the beach. That keeps sunburns away and allows the family to enjoy “getting out of the swamp,” listening to the waves and “watching the kids play in the sand,” he said.

On Tuesday, the FDA announced the new rules, which will go into effect next year, for sunscreen makers. The rules require sunscreens to protect against two kinds of the sun’s radiation, UVB and UVA, to earn the coveted designation of offering “broad spectrum” protection.

“FDA has evaluated the data and developed testing and labeling requirements for sunscreen products, so that manufacturers can modernize their product information and consumers can be well-informed on which products offer the greatest benefit,” Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, said in a news release. “These changes to sunscreen labels are an important part of helping consumers have the information they need so they can choose the right sun protection for themselves and their families.”

Under the rules, manufacturers will no longer be able to claim their products are waterproof because no sunscreen actually is, officials said. However, they will be able to claim how long the sunscreen is water resistant.

Only sunscreens with a sun protection factor of at least 15 will be allowed to advertise they prevent sunburn and reduce the risks of skin cancer.

Dr. Charles Kovaleski, a local dermatologist, recommends no less than SPF 30. He added that consumers should be sure the product also protects against Ultraviolet A. People frequently in the sun need to reapply sunscreen frequently.

No More Waterproof Sunscreen, and Other New FDA Rules - National ...

After 33 years, the Food and Drug Administration today released a new set of rules regulating sunscreen in the United States. Issued just in time for the summer beach season, the new rules dictate that in order to earn a "broad spectrum" designation, sunscreens must protect from both UVB rays, which cause burning, and UVA rays, which cause wrinkles. Both types of ultraviolet rays cause cancer, The New York Times reported . The rules also do away with "waterproof" and "sweatproof" labels on sunscreens, because such claims are impossible. "Instead, they will be allowed to claim that the products are water resistant for either 40 minutes or 80 minutes, depending upon test results, but nothing more."