The long way towards the ideal sunscreen—where we stand and what still needs to be done

Abstract

The magnitude and quality of UV protection provided by topical sun products have improved considerably over the past three decades. As our knowledge and understanding of sun protection requirements increases, product and testing technologies advance and new sunscreen molecules and technologies become available. The biannual London Sun Protection Conference has monitored this development over the last two decades. The 2009 edition of the conference (June 3 and 4) was entitled "Perfection of Protection". This paper, based on our talk given at the conference, tries to answer the question about the "ideal sunscreen" and explores four key requirements of good UV protection regarding where we stand on a ranking scale between poor and perfect, and what still needs to be done. Technology is leading with a rating of 80%, Assessment/measurement follows at 70%, Norms/standards around 50% and Compliance ranks only around 30% between poor and perfect. UV filters are the heart of the product technology. Besides UVB-filters, plenty of UV filters for UVA II and UVA I protection are now available in most parts of the world, except the USA. Although the Sun Protection Factor is well established and various methods have been developed for assessment of UVA protection, the performance measurement of sunscreens is still far from perfect. On the other hand, the high bar for achieving the highest UVA protection in the various classification systems released recently in Europe (2006) and the USA (2007) already helped to increase the protection considerably. The greatest problem however, remains poor compliance. Providing cosmetically pleasing formulations that people like to wear and communicating what sunscreens are and how they work are key elements in improving UV protection.

Energy-donor phosphorescence quenching study of triplet–triplet energy transfer between UV absorbers

“…The strong absorption of the enol form in the UV-A range is greatly reduced after exposure to UV-A radiation and a new absorption band of the keto form appears in the UV-C range resulting in a reduction in UV-A-protective power of BMDBM [17,18]. The photoinstability of BMDBM can be reduced by the addition of UV-B absorbers, such as 2-ethylhexyl 2-cyano-3,3-diphenylacrylate (octocrylene, OCR, Scheme 1), acting as a quencher of BMDBM excited states [8,14,[19][20][21][22][23][24]. However, this combination does not cover a wide range of wavelengths sufficiently because the molar absorption coefficient of OCR is moderate in the UV-B range [25,26].…”

A theoretical study of the UV absorption of 4-methylbenzylidene camphor: from the UVB to the UVA region

“…46 The results are presented in Table 3 for atoms that presented contributions equal or higher than 5.0%. 11 10.9 (7.7) 12.8 (7.3) 13.9 (6.5) C 12 12.9 (16.7) 12.1 (16.3) 10.7 (13.2) C 15 13.0 12.9 10.9 C 17 6.7 7.0 6.0…”

“…This is in line with the NBO charge analysis made for 4-MBC and BC. The contribution of each atom of MBC 11 to the HOMO and LUMO was also calculated, by using the Hirshfeld weighting function present in Multiwfn code and the results can be seen in Table 3. The atoms that contribute for the HOMO and LUMO of MBC 11 are the same that contribute for the same orbitals of 4-MBC and BC.…”

Prevalência de lesões labiais em trabalhadores de praia e fatores associados

“…8,3,4,18 The ideal sunscreen to avoid burning, ageing and skin cancer should meet certain criteria relating to the technology with which it is produced, product performance evaluations, norms and standards of use and, above all, the individual concerned applying it correctly, evenly and repeatedly. 16 The same rationale is applicable to the subjects of this study as regards using a hat/cap. In addition to these accessories not being made of fabric proven to be photo resistant, the lip area is often not totally covered by the shadow of the hat/cap and remain exposed to the dangerous effects of UV radiation.…”