Code of Federal Regulations Title 21. Food and Drugs § 21.352.71 Light source (solar simulator)

A solar simulator used for determining the SPF of a sunscreen drug product should be filtered so that it provides a continuous emission spectrum from 290 to 400 nanometers similar to sunlight at sea level from the sun at a zenith angle of 10° it has less than 1 percent of its total energy output contributed by nonsolar wavelengths shorter than 290 nanometers;  and it has not more than 5 percent of its total energy output contributed by wavelengths longer than 400 nanometers. In addition, a solar simulator should have no significant time-related fluctuations in radiation emissions after an appropriate warmup time, and it should have good beam uniformity (within 10 percent) in the exposure plane. To ensure that the solar simulator delivers the appropriate spectrum of UV radiation, it must be measured periodically with an accurately-calibrated spectroradiometer system or equivalent instrument.