SunscreenFilters

Sunscreen filters in New Zealand

Updated

Keep using sunscreen. The TGA says its benefits far outweigh any risks, and nothing here says a product is unsafe: the limits are proposals.

In New Zealand sunscreens are cosmetics. Since 2022 they have had to meet the joint sunscreen standard, AS/NZS 2604:2012, for testing and labelling Commerce Commission, but there is no public register like Australia’s ARTG and no list of how much of each filter a product contains. The TGA’s review covers Australia only.

New Zealand is already lowering homosalate

New Zealand’s Environmental Protection Authority has amended the Cosmetic Products Group Standard to phase out products made to the old homosalate rules, which allowed up to 15%. Products that meet only the old rules can be made or imported until 30 June 2027 and sold until 30 June 2028 New Zealand Gazette. The new maximum is in the standard’s schedule of UV filters; check the EPA for the figure.

Australian brands on New Zealand shelves

Many sunscreens sold in New Zealand are Australian brands, Banana Boat, Invisible Zinc, Bondi Sands and Wotnot among them, and this table can still help: search the brand and compare its filters with the ingredient list on the New Zealand pack. If the active ingredients and their order match, it is likely the same formula. If they don’t, trust the pack: a brand can sell a different formula in New Zealand, and more will change as the phase-out runs.

What to look for on a New Zealand label

  • The active ingredients. Homosalate can also appear as homomenthyl salicylate; oxybenzone as benzophenone-3; 4-MBC as 4-methylbenzylidene camphor.
  • An AUST L number on the back means the product is also on the Australian register. Search that number here: it’s the ARTG number.
  • “Homosalate free” and “reef safe” are marketing words with no set meaning; the ingredient list is what counts.

Homosalate-free sunscreens · Kids’ sunscreens without homosalate · The table