Ocean-safe protection in sight?

COSSMA: What have been the latest scientific findings and developments in sun care?

Abhijit Bidaye (AB), Applications Team Leader, Croda: There has been a lot of research going on in the area of the impact of longer wavelengths such as High Energy Visible (HEV), visible and IR radiation, the impact that these can have on the skin, as well as means to minimise the negative effects caused by these longer wavelengths. Irradiation with complete solar light has been shown to induce greater radical formation than is caused by UV exposure alone. The increased radical formation can lead to premature aging through the degradation of collagen and elastin. As a result, significant effort has been directed towards quenching and blocking the negative effects of HEV, visible, and IR radiation.

What are the most important ingredient trends in the field of sun care?

Scott Cardinali (SC), Business Development Manager, Croda: The current consumer interest in “clean beauty” is having a huge impact on trends in sun protection. There is a growing number of consumers who perceive synthetic-organic based sunscreens to be less “healthy” than mineral-based alternatives. This belief is often reinforced by consumer NGOs. Therefore, we have seen raised interest in mineral-only sunscreens. Clean beauty concerns are also fuelling interest in reef-safe sunscreen products, and this concern has been exacerbated by the recently legislated ban on the use of oxy-
benzone and octinoxate in sun care products in Hawaii. This concern around reef safety and the resulting reduction in UV filter options resulting from current and pending environmentally driven bans are also pushing consumers and formulators alike towards metal oxide UV protection technologies.

Trending concerns and awareness around sun exposure induced skin cancer are driving interest in greater SPF levels. Hitting higher SPF targets with a smaller set of available UV protection actives are driving formulators to re-evaluate their total sunscreen formulation. Formulators are expressing renewed interest in enhanced delivery of UV actives through the selection of emulsifiers and emollients, as well as ingredients that can boost the efficiency of existing UV filters. 

Finally, we see a trend towards the delivery of complete skin protection from sun protection products. Consumers increasingly understand that their skin is damaged through exposures to multiple insults – including, but not limited to UV light. For example, High Energy Visible light (HEV) and blue light have been identified to impair skin’s natural ability to repair UV-induced DNA damage. IR exposure can generate damaging radicals in the skin. Particulate and gaseous pollutants have also been shown to contribute to DNA and skin damage. Hence, sun protection ingredients which offer a range of protections are increasingly popular, and metal oxide technologies can often be manipulated to protect against these various causes of environmental insult. 

What have been Croda’s latest findings in the field of sun care?

AB: We have been quite active recently in the field of sun care. Our latest launch Infraveil IT-100, which is a titanium dioxide engineered to provide optimal protection against IR radiation. This can be used by itself to scatter damaging IR radiation, or can be used in combination with ingredients such as Venuceane, which is designed to quench IR induced radicals.

We have also extensively studied the effects of particle size on the attenuation of UV light. Our Solaveil  SpeXtra grade of titanium dioxide has been designed to offer excellent attenuation against UV-B, UV-A, and HEV – all from a single ingredient.