Cosmetics for children is the key to cosmetic safety regulation, and since NIFDC released the technical guidelines for children's cosmetics last year, the filing of children's sunscreen products was not active. Here we analyze the difficulties in the regulations through the filing data of 50 children's sunscreens registered after August 31st last year.
Definition of Sunscreen Cosmetics for Children
To be clear, children's sunscreen cosmetics are suitable for children under 12 years old, with sunscreen efficacy. Also, it is divided into "infants and young children" (0-3 years old) and "children" (3-12 years old) depending one's age.
Cosmetics for "infants" and "children" have different requirements in terms of formula selection, labeling and safety assessment. As the skin of "infants" is more fragile, sunscreen cosmetics tailored to them comply with the principle of prioritizing safety, keeping the formulation simple by reducing ingredients that tend to cause allergies and strong irritation. Thus, it is generally recommended that infant sunscreen cosmetics use physical sunscreens or other safer options.
Sun Protection Strength
The guidelines state that when the SPF of children's sunscreen cosmetics is high, sufficient assessment on safety for children's use is necessary, with data from safety evaluation of human trial tests submitted as evidence support.
Among the 50 children's sunscreens counted, SPF 30 accounted for about 54% and under-SPF 30 accounted for 32%.
Sunscreen Cosmetic Types
Data show that 76% of children's sunscreens are lotions, cream products accounted for 12% of the total, cream type sunscreen are more effective but more viscous. In addition, sunscreen sprays accounted for 8% in the study, but children often misuse sunscreen sprays and deserve more careful attention to inhalation risks.
Sunscreen Ingredients
Children's sunscreen formulations are not allowed more than five types of chemical sunscreen agents and the amount applied should be lower than the limit of the Technical Guidelines for Cosmetic Safety. Also the total amount of titanium dioxide, zinc oxide should be used ≤ 25%. From the data, 52% of the sunscreens chose 3 to 5 sunscreen agents, and 42% chose less than 3 ones.
In addition, the products with purely physical sunscreens accounted for 38%, purely chemical sunscreens accounted for 32%, and mixed sunscreens accounted for 30%.
Preservative in Children's Sunscreens
The guiding principles propose that preservatives should be used reasonably under the premise of safety priority and efficacy necessity. As such, children's sunscreens are more cautious in using preservatives, with up to 2 preservatives in a single product, while 32% of those made without preservatives.
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