The sunscreen scandal shocking Australia - the world's skin cancer capital

Summary

The sunscreen scandal shocking Australia - the world's skin cancer capitalTabby Wilson and Tiffanie TurnbullBBC News, SydneyMarianna Massey/Getty ImagesSunscreens are at the heart of a national scandal in Australia Like many Australians, Rach grew up "terrified of the sun" in a country that has the unenviable title of skin cancer capital of the world.Her childhood was characterised by the infamous "no hat, no play" rule that is commonplace in Australian schools, 90s advertisements that warned the sun would give you cancer, and sunscreen tubes that stood guard at every door in her home.It made the now 34-year-old the kind of person who religiously applies sunscreen multiple times a day and rarely leaves the house without a hat.So she was shocked when doctors found a skin cancer on her nose during a check last November, something they said was abnormal given her age and ray-dodging regime.Though technically classified as a "low grade" skin cancer – a basel cell carcinoma – it had to be surgically removed, leaving the Newcastle mum with a scar just below her eye."I was just confused, and I was a little bit angry because I was like, 'Are you kidding me?'" Rach – who asked that her surname not be used – told the BBC. "I thought I'd done all the right stuff and it still happened to me."That rage grew when she learned the sunscreen she had been using for years was unreliable and, according to some tests, offered next to no sun protection at all.ABC News/Billy CooperThis Ultra Violette product is at the centre of the sunscreen controversy Independent analysis by a trusted consumer advocacy group has found that several of Australia's most popular, and expensive, sunscreens are not providing the protection they claim to, kicking off a national scandal.There has been a massive backlash from customers, a probe launched by the country's medical watchdog, multiple products pulled from shelves, and questions raised about the regulation of sunscreen around the globe."It's definitel...