Sunscreen use in NJ schools is currently banned without doctor’s note

🏫 Sunscreen labeled as an over-the-counter drug in New Jersey

🏫Assemblywoman would like students to apply sunscreen as needed

🏫Sunscreen has evolved over time

TRENTON — New Jersey parents, did you know this?

Sunscreen is currently labeled as an over-the-counter drug in New Jersey and has been for decades. That means that technically it's banned in schools — with students not able to have it with them or use it while in school.

This classification creates a hurdle for students to reapply sunscreen during the day, with the only exception being a doctor’s note.

If Assemblywoman Nancy Muñoz, R-Union, gets her way, this would no longer be an issue.

Under a measure being sponsored by Muñoz, New Jersey public schools would be required to adopt a policy concerning the use of sunscreen and sun-protective clothing by students.

According to the bill's language, students would no longer be required "to provide documentation from a physician or other licensed health care professional in order to use sunscreen or sun-protective clothing while outdoors at school or a school-sponsored function."

The bill would take effect "in the first full school year following the bill’s enactment," the legislation reads.

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“It’s a permissive bill. It says you have to have a policy, doesn’t mean you have to do it. But you have to have a policy about what you’re going to allow,” Muñoz said to New Jersey 101.5.

The FDA advises sunblock to be applied every two hours, which isn't currently possible during the school day.

“The children get to school at 8 a.m. and many kids, not just the little ones, even through the teenage years, they’re in school for a long time. They go out for recess and many of the older kids do afterschool activities,” Muñoz said.

The assemblywoman, who also has a background in health care, says if you have five or more serious sunburns as a child, you're more likely to develop melanoma.

Back when sunblock was first classified as an over-the-counter drug, the ingredients in sunblock were different than they are now, according to Muñoz. She says the components of sunscreen have changed over time, with more mineral-based components in sunblock today.

“We have to progress as medicine progresses. We do that in other areas. We haven’t done that when it comes to sunblock,” Muñoz said.

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