Metal oxide sunscreens protect skin by absorption, not by reflection or scattering
Summary Background/Purpose The inorganic metal oxide sunscreens titanium dioxide and zinc oxide have been considered to protect against sunburning ultraviolet radiation by physically reflecting/scattering the incident photons and thus protecting the skin. Earlier publications suggested, however, tha...
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Published in | Photodermatology, photoimmunology & photomedicine Vol. 32; no. 1; pp. 5 - 10 |
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Main Authors | , , |
Format | Journal Article |
Language | English |
Published |
England
Blackwell Publishing Ltd
01.01.2016
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Subjects | |
Online Access | Get full text |
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Summary: | Summary
Background/Purpose
The inorganic metal oxide sunscreens titanium dioxide and zinc oxide have been considered to protect against sunburning ultraviolet radiation by physically reflecting/scattering the incident photons and thus protecting the skin. Earlier publications suggested, however, that the primary action of UV protection by these sunscreen agents is through absorption and not by reflection. The purpose of this work was to quantitate the contributions of each of these modes of action to the protection provided by inorganic UV sunscreen filters.
Methods
An optical integrating sphere was used to measure the transmission and the reflectance of titanium dioxide and zinc oxide.
Results
The average range of reflection for zinc oxide and titanium dioxide throughout the UV range was only 4–5% (less than SPF 2), providing minimal UV protection via this mechanism. The remainder of the UV protection is provided by semiconductor band gap mediated absorbance of the UV photons. At wavelengths above the semiconductor band gap absorption energy levels (in the long UVA and visible wavelengths), they are predominantly reflectors of light (up to 60% reflection) and non‐absorbing.
Conclusion
Titanium dioxide and zinc oxide provide UV protection primarily via absorption of UV radiation and not through significant reflection or scattering. |
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Bibliography: | ark:/67375/WNG-QHFRDTRB-S istex:B24AF4A071E2F13524C58A0A6B211E32254FE51D ArticleID:PHPP12214 Conflicts of interest None declared. ObjectType-Article-1 SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1 ObjectType-Feature-2 content type line 23 |
ISSN: | 0905-4383 1600-0781 |
DOI: | 10.1111/phpp.12214 |