CONTENTS

Introduction
Human Skin Cancer
Sunscreen and Fabric
The Mouse Model of Cancer
Studies Using Skin Tissue
Drugs and Sunlight
Plant and Algae Growth
Conclusion
Glossary
Bibliography

Relations with the Sunscreen Industry

The Australian Photobiology Testing Facility (APTF), arose from the demand by the sunscreen industry for a thoroughly scientific and independent facility/service for testing skin products, especially sunscreens. In 1987 some companies approached Greenoak, who was then researching skin cancer at the University of Sydney, to set up such a facility. They knew him because he had already done quite a bit of contract work for them in order to raise funds for equipment needed in his own research (such as air conditioners and mouse cages). Because of this contract work Greenoak had built up a good relationship with many of the multinational companies producing sunscreens.

Greenoak liked the idea and together with Jules Martin who is a Registered Nurse and has had long experience in a dermatological practise, they established the Facility. The Testing Facility has three main aims; to provide the best possible service to industry, to fund research (and they've funded research to the tune of about $13,000 since 1987), and to collaborate with other departments, with hospitals, on aspects of skin research. This collaboration has been fruitful, especially with Lidcombe Hospital.

The way that the tests should be done is set by the Standards Association of Australia (SAA) in AS2604. The Australian Photobiology Testing Facility complies with these standards and is involved in setting the standards. Greenoak is a member of the sunscreen testing committee of the Australian Standards Association and the Testing Facility is the only laboratory recognised by the Quality Assurance Standards Association of Australia for the purposes of product certification. The Australian Standards Association is not an expert body itself but it is advised by expert committees.

After operating for three years Greenoak and Martin have built up computer records of hundreds of people so that when a company wants its sunscreens tested on particular types of skin - for example if they want sensitive people, tanned people, fair people, women, men, young or old - suitable volunteers can easily be located. Some clients will want a range of skin types. Most of them will simply want worst case, that is the most fair people.

“The only conflicts we have over these tests are when the sunscreens fail,” Greenoak explains. “Sunscreen manufacturers give a sunscreen to us and if it passes they are very happy. If they fail - and quite a few fail - then they get upset and clearly some of them want to tell us that there is something wrong about the way that we are doing it.” A sunscreen “fails” if the actual sun protection factor is below the factor predicted by the manufacturer. “If someone says it is a 10 and we find its a 5.” The results are submitted to statistical evaluation and they must come in below a particular standard error to be valid. There is, however, nothing to stop companies whose sunscreens fail at the Australian Photobiology Testing Facility from going elsewhere to get their sunscreen tested.

The manufacturer has to make an agreement with the testing facility that when it submits a sunscreen for testing it is safe for humans and that it has done all the initial studies for the estimation of the SPF. This is because if their estimate is wrong it means the volunteers may be burnt. “We have hardly ever burnt anyone,” Greenoak says reassuringly, “it is obviously the very last thing that we want to do.”

When sunscreens fail and if there is any kind of controversy with regard to the testing procedure Greenoak and Martin can always refer to their continuous documentation of their procedures and their control sunscreen. They have a considerable amount of data showing what kind of range of results they should get from that control sunscreen which has a known SPF. They test the control and a number of other sunscreens on the volunteers and if their tests show anything out of that range for the control sunscreen they know they are doing something wrong. “When you have tested thousands of them you get a very good feeling for whether it is going to work or not and you know very quickly if there is a problem,” says Greenoak. “What one really has a feel for is the range of results that you will get with a stable sunscreen. As soon as you start getting results beyond that range you get suspicious.”

The control sunscreen has been tested overseas and is a standard formulation which is set down in the Australian Standard. Everyone doing sunscreen tests must make a control sunscreen according to that formulation. It will be within a particular range of sun protection factor according to a number of laboratories. Methods in US and Europe differ somewhat from those used in Australia. The Europeans using quite a different method seem to underestimate SPF when compared with the American or Australian methods.