PRESS RELEASE: TGA delays poison-scheduling of sunscreen chemical after lobbyists attend private TGA meeting, despite majority public consultation support for restrictions

BRISBANE, 7 July 2026 — The Australian Sunscreen Council has today made publicly accessible ten documents received from the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) under the Freedom of Information Act 1982 (Cth), released under FOI reference 26-3100. The full documents are available here: https://www.australiansunscreencouncil.org/post/foi-release-tga-documents-on-the-scheduling-of-homosalate-oxybenzone-and-octocrylene

The TGA proposed restrictions on Homosalate in July 2025, including adding it to the Poisons Standard and reducing the permitted concentration in therapeutic sunscreens. The FOI documents, dated between 17 September and 13 November 2025, discussed chronic exposure risk, concentration reductions and “net harm” of Homosalate, but a decision was internally shelved after pressure from industry lobbyists, and internal concern that consumer would reduce sunscreen use if the TGA removed sunscreens on the market due to safety concerns.

The delay came despite the TGA’s own public consultation showing majority support for restricting homosalate to a concentration of 0.28%. The TGA’s summary of the “main points in general support of restricting use of homosalate” recorded that homosalate offers “negligible benefit,” poses “endocrine, fertility, and developmental risks,” and that its “metabolites are mutagenic.”

In FOI Document 7, page 9, the TGA states:

“To mitigate the risk from chronic exposure to homosalate in therapeutic sunscreens, it is recommended that homosalate is listed in the Poisons Standard. To manage the potential risks associated with homosalate it is recommended that the entry restrict the use of homosalate in therapeutic sunscreens…”

The documents also show the TGA confirmed it would proceed with restrictions on oxybenzone, another sunscreen ingredient, while delaying action on homosalate. The Australian Sunscreen Council says the difference appears to be that oxybenzone did not attract the same level of industry pushback.

Australian Sunscreen Council Director Joseph Mizikovsky said:

“The TGA’s own consultation showed 59% support for restricting homosalate to 0.28%, and the TGA’s own summary recorded concerns about endocrine, fertility, developmental and mutagenicity risks. Yet after the chemical sunscreen lobby presented at the scheduling meeting, action on homosalate was delayed.”

“Australians have not been told that a sunscreen chemical proposed for poison scheduling over chronic exposure concerns has been delayed. They have not been told the TGA was internally discussing the ‘net harm’ of this ingredient.”

“It raises the obvious question: are Australians being protected based on safety risk, or based on how much pushback the regulator receives from industry?”

“No one is telling Australians to stop protecting themselves from the sun. The message should be honest: shade, hats, clothing and sunglasses first, and when sunscreen is needed, Australians should be told which ingredients are under safety review and why.”

The Australian Sunscreen Council is calling on the TGA to explain why action on homosalate has been delayed, and to disclose why lobbyists were able to influence the addition of an ingredient to the poisons list.

The FOI documents are published in full, exactly as released by the TGA and including all redactions, in the public interest.