As part of the JACOP (Joint Actions on Compliance of Products) initiative launched in 2025, the European Commission funded a campaign to test SPFs and UVA protection factors. The results were released on 27 July 2026.
To make the case for more widespread use of “sunburn-free testing”, the European Commission recently funded a campaign during which the sun protection factor (SPF) and UVA protection factor of 74 sunscreen products (sunscreens as well as day creams) were tested in laboratory conditions (in vitro).
Market surveillance authorities (MSAs) from 11 EU countries selected the products in shops and online. The testing was carried out under the 2025 edition of the Joint Actions on Compliance of Products (JACOP) campaign in the EU and in EFTA countries.
Conclusion of this experiment: Comparison of two methods to test the SPF has shown that the in vitro laboratory testing standard is reliable and more ethical than testing on human volunteers.
The benefits of in vitro
As a reminder, the in vitro test method (EN ISO 23675:2024) used here was published in December 2024.
It eliminates the need for exposing human volunteers to UV radiation, is cheaper than testing on humans and is faster. A hybrid method published at the same time, HDRS, uses human subjects, but does not cause harm. This testing campaign only compared the in vitro and conventional in vivo methods.
The process of …
