'TAN LOTIONS’ QUALITIES

Press, Volume XCIX, Issue 29389, 16 December 1960, Page 9

'TAN LOTIONS’ QUALITIES

Public Urged To “Beware”

“There seems to be little reliable information available about the active ingredients in the new "tan’ lotions on the New Zealand market or about the way in which they colour the skin,” says the latest issue of the Consumer Service’s journal. ‘‘Until reliable information is available there is a clear case for the buyer to beware.”

The magazine says the consumer organisations in the United States have, been concerned with the growing use of dihydroxyacetonebased lotions and have warned the readers of their magazines to be careful in using them and any product which claims to tan the skin without sunshine.

Toxicity and allergy tests of the chemical were being made by the United States Government’s Food and Drug Administration.

“There is no doubt that DHA will darken the skin, but nobody knows how it does,” the journal says. “It is also by no means certain that the use of DHA-based lotions will give the golden natural looking tan the labels and advertisements promise.” The New Zealand manufacturer of one product claimed that it could be used by both men and women and that it was safe and harmless, but it was best to avoid it in eyes or on lips. Then the claim was that it “contained no dyes, stains or irritants.” The Consumer Service said it found the statements difficult to reconcile.

“The Health Department agrees with the manufacturers’ claim that the tan won’t wash off—it knows of no method of removing the stains short of removing the skin,” the journal says. “Although these new preparations have only been on the market a short time, the department has already received inquiries, particularly on how unwanted stains can be removed. From the department’s experience, it would appear that many people are embarrassed by Patchy dying of the skin and by disfiguring stains on the hands and around the fingernails.”