“This new ISO standard can be applied to products that contain any component that can absorb, reflect or scatter ultraviolet (UV) rays and that are intended to come into contact with human skin. This document provides a basis for the evaluation of sunscreen products for the protection of human skin against erythema or sunburn induced by solar ultraviolet rays,” says ISO (International Organization for Standardization).
This second edition cancels and replaces the first one. Several changes have been introduced.

The definition of the minimal erythema response (MED) criteria has been revised.
• The choice of eligible test subjects is now based solely on individual typology angle (ITA°) with a requirement for the average ITA° for the test panel to be within the range 41° to 55°, with a minimum of three subjects within two of the three ITA ranges.
• The ITA is used to define the range of unprotected MED doses for the provisional or the test day unprotected MED determination (if no provisional MED determination is made).
• Three new reference standard sunscreens have been validated and added to the method to validate SPF test panels for products with SPF equal to 25 or higher (P5, P6 and …