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A National Web‐Based Survey of Sunscreen Products as a Tool for Industry Self‐Regulation, Consumer Awareness Campaigns and Marketing
Author(s) -
Summers B.,
Summers R. S.,
Muller E.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
international journal of cosmetic science
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.532
H-Index - 62
eISSN - 1468-2494
pISSN - 0142-5463
DOI - 10.1111/j.1467-2494.2006.00300_6.x
Subject(s) - data collection , business , sun protection factor , test (biology) , marketing , world wide web , computer science , medicine , mathematics , dermatology , paleontology , statistics , biology
The objective of the work was to test a web‐based tool in the collection and presentation of data for our regular sunscreen surveys and to develop, test and conduct a web‐based survey of sunscreen products, with instant data reporting. After the Photobiology Laboratory at MEDUNSA was approached by SurveyIT to pilot a new web‐based data collection and reporting tool, companies were contacted via e‐mail and invited to visit a secure web‐based site to complete the provided questionnaire. Data collection and processing were greatly simplified by the new approach. The survey gleaned responses from 18 companies on 31 brands with a total of 110 primary sunscreen products. The data revealed a reduction in the number of companies marketing sunscreens in South Africa compared with the previous year, despite an increase in the volume of sunscreen sales. Ninety‐eight percent of the products were claimed to be in vivo SPF tested. Fifty‐seven percent of the products had undergone in vitro SPF testing for determination of their UVA protection. Fifty‐one percent of the products were claimed to be water‐resistant. Octyl methoxycinnamate was the most popular UV filter (88% of products), followed by benzophenone‐3 (60%). Butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane was in 52% of the products and surprisingly only 29% of the products contained titanium dioxide. The major conclusions are that the data collection tool was a success and that sunscreens are becoming more widely used and more thoroughly tested in South Africa.