Protection from photo-ageing: COSSMA

The sun has always been a symbol of life. However, we increasingly are becoming aware of the fact that the amount of sun rays we are exposed to is one of the biggest environmental impacts on us, with both positive and negative effects on our health. Sun exposure should be a natural gift to us.

The downside, however, is that too much sun exposure can severely damage our skin1. It can lead to photo-ageing and can also cause malignant melanoma (skin cancer). As it is really difficult to know when skin cells are damaged – that is, their DNA is damaged – the use of sunscreens alone may not provide adequate protection against harmful UVA and UVB rays.

Causes of photo-ageing

Photo-ageing is mainly caused by the rays of the sun and leads to a number of symptoms. An estimated 90% of premature ageing is caused by exposure to sunlight².

Photo-ageing is not just a myth. There is evidence that photo-ageing occurs, even when the skin is not obviously damaged. A man who worked as a delivery truck driver for 28 years was exposed to strong light from the left³. This caused significantly more wrinkles and sagging skin as the photo shows. We can assume that this type of photo-ageing was indeed caused by sun light.

We clearly need to differentiate between photo-ageing and more severe consequences of sun exposure, such as various forms of skin cancer, e.g. melanoma, squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma.

The benefits of sunscreens

Sunscreens do not necessarily protect entirely from these severe consequences. This has more to do with application and the perception of exposure to sun rays.

A good combination of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide provides good protection from UVB (29–320 nm wavelength) and UVA (up to 380 nm, which is not the full spectrum of UVA, which extends to 400 nm). We neither know which part of the spectrum of sun rays contributes to the formation of skin cancer⁴, nor do we know the individual dose that causes the critical damage. We do know, however, that we need light and at the same time, we need to protect our skin from potential photo-ageing.

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