What is ISO 16217 about?
ISO 16217 is an international standard that discusses water immersion procedures for sun protection testing methods used for cosmetics. ISO 16217 specifies a procedure of water immersion for the in vivo determination of the water resistance of sunscreen products.
ISO 16217 applies to products intended to be placed in contact with human skin including any component able to absorb, reflect or scatter UV rays and which, in addition, are designed to be less readily removed from the skin by water or during water immersion.
Who is ISO 16217 for?
ISO 16217 on water immersion procedure is applicable to:
- Manufacture of cosmetic products
- Companies dealing with cosmetics water resistance
- Retailers and suppliers of cosmetics
Why should you use ISO 16217?
The sun protection factor (SPF) is determined using an invasive procedure, in which the volunteers are indicated with ultraviolet (UV) light. The level of sun protection provided by sunscreen products has traditionally been estimated with the use of sun protection factor or SPF test which uses the erythemal response of the skin to ultraviolet (UV) radiation.
ISO 16217 ensures you to test the requirement for sun protection such as the period of the post-water immersion SPF test, the temperature of the simulated swim test device and the environment, the SPF values which are obtained for each test subject ad post-water immersion SPF.
As a user of ISO 16217, the individual product test site and unprotected test site is delineated within the region between the scapula line and waist. The test sites can be configured in such a way that they will fully immerse the test subject is located comfortably in simulated swim test devices.
What’s changed since the last update?
BS EN ISO 16217:2021 supersedes BS ISO 16217:2020, which is withdrawn.
