NOT ALL SUNSCREENS ARE CREATED EQUAL

JOHNSON CITY, TN - Dermatologist Dr. Donald Clemons will tell you that, like any other product, there are good sunscreens and there are bad sunscreens.

• "And there are bad products out there giving good products a bad name," he said. "It is absolutely critical that people do not condemn all sunscreens."

Clemons spoke at the headquarters of Blue Lizard Australian Suncream on Friday, a day after a lawsuit was filed in Los Angeles Superior Court targeting five of the country's leading sunscreen manufacturers. The suit states that certain products do not protect from ultraviolet rays that cause aging and cancer. It also calls for claims like "waterproof" and "all-day protection" to be removed from sunscreen labels.

• "Those things simply don't exist," said Don Kilday, president of Johnson City-based Blue Lizard Australian Suncream, which was NOT named in the lawsuit. "The FDA only requires testing for water resistance in 80 minutes of still water - that doesn't constitute 'waterproof' in our opinion."
• "All-day protection" is a ludicrous statement too, Kilday said. Sunscreens, regardless of quality, will eventually wear off and lose effectiveness. They should be reapplied every two hours.

there is also concern over some companies' claims that their product is a "sun block" as opposed to "sunscreen." In order to be a sun block, a product must contain physical blockers like Zinc Oxide and Titanium Dioxide. Products juiced up with chemical absorbers are not sun blocks.

Clemons said the most important ingredient to look for in sunscreens is a sufficient level of a UVA blocker like Zinc Oxide. Most major sunscreen brands protect throughout the UVB spectrum, but it's the UVA rays - the ones associated with skin cancer - that are most harmful.

• "Most sunscreen products out there are not effective (in the UVA range)," he said.

In a competitive market where false claims have sold millions of bottles of sunscreen, Blue Lizard has always maintained the integrity of it's Australian roots. It is still tested according to stringent Australian Standards, has only claimed to be very water resistant and is formulated with Zinc Oxide.

• "We've been lobbying the FDA since the launch of Blue Lizard in the United States in 1999 to require others to undergo the same testing we do," said Jeff Bedard, chief executive officer of Blue Lizard's parent company, Crown Laboratories Inc.
• "We have sacrificed short-term profit by consistently telling the truth about sunscreens," Bedard said. "It's just so unfortunate that false claims have contributed to the death of so many of our friends and family."
• "We're proud to be able to hold our head high, knowing that we've been honest with the consumer," Kilday said. "We feel Vindicated."

For more information, visit http://www.crownlaboratories.com/bluelizard/