The method has been welcomed by the European cosmetic industry and is now used as a standard procedure in both manufacture and contract test laboratories across Europe.
The European Commission document 2006/247/EC provides recommendations for the testing and labelling of sunscreen products. Specifically, with regard to UVA protection, 2006/247/EC recommends “a UVA protection of UVA protection factor (UVA-PF) of 1/3 of the sun protection factor…” and “a critical wavelength of 370nm, as obtained in application of the critical wavelength testing method”. The raw data needed to calculate the Critical Wavelength metric is derived from the same in vitro UVR substrate spectrophotometric practical methodology as described in the Colipa UVA Method 2007a.
The previous publication (2007a) has, therefore, been revised to include the critical wavelength metric, so that both a UVA-PF and a critical wavelength value can be calculated from the same in vitro data-set. The text of the previous document has also been updated carefully to improve clarity and precision in communication and intent.
The publication Method for in-vitro Determination of UVA Protection provided by Sunscreen Products comes along with 1 Excel spreadsheet. The tables contained in this spreadsheet automatically perform the calculations for the Method using pre-set formulae. (Some functions have been locked in order to avoid modifications by the users).
The Spreadsheet is provided to help those users who are not familiar with such calculations.
Click to open spreadsheet Colipa has prepared these tables to the best of its ability and provides them in good faith to help users who are not familiar with calculations relating to the method for the in vitro determination of UVA protection provided by sunscreen products. However, Colipa cannot assume any legal liability or responsibility for the accuracy or completeness of figures obtained using the tables; such liability lies with the user.
In order to facilitate proper implementation of the test method, Colipa has developed a training video. The video shows in a clear way all the different elements of the test method procedure, including the test assembly, the instrumentation requirements, the different procedural steps and the necessary calculations. Furthermore, the most common errors are explained in the video and guidance is given on how to avoid them.
