Sun protective clothing: 5 years of experience in Australia

The Australian/New Zealand Standard AS/NZS 4399 "Sun protective clothing--evaluation and classification" was published in 1996. AS/NZS 4399 has been well accepted and most companies wishing to claim UVR protection for their products have complied with the labeling requirements. This standard is not mandatory, unlike two other Australian standards dealing with solar ultraviolet radiation (UVR) protection, namely the Sunscreen Standard (AS2604) and the Sunglass Standard (AS1067). With these standards there is the ability to impose substantial penalties for non-compliance. In Australia the standard-setting process is achieved by consensus and the development of AS/NZS 4399 was a long and involved process which took a number of years. The standard is not perfect; it was appreciated that issues such as garment lifetime and stretch and wet testing needed to be covered and it was planned to address these in a revised standard. In the 5 years since publication considerable work, in both Australia and overseas, has been carried out. Other national standards have been developed and published. This paper presents some of the rationale which the committee worked through prior to 1996. Also covered are many of the experiences and difficulties in the 5 years since the introduction of AS/NZS 4399, in particular the effect of local conditions and legal requirements on the operation of the standard.