Sunscreens: The chemistry I love
The key to a healthy and beautiful life
What is the criterion for the beauty of sunscreen? How to use sunscreens with UVA-I filters in a non-standard way? Are there side effects of chemical filters and what rules must be followed? We answer these and other questions in the article
Yulia Gagarina, chemist-technologist, developer of organic cosmetics OrganicLife (Ukraine)
Classify it
In principle, this story can be very short, consisting of a table. From the 29 sun protection filters allowed in the EU, several groups can be conditionally formed on a scale from "GOOD-cool and modern" to "NO-GOOD-outdated and even harmful". A separate line can be called those that can be called a sunscreen filter very conditionally.
We measure by length
Previously, the criterion for the "goodness" of a sunscreen was its ability to protect against burns. For this, it is enough to have UVB-filters with a long wave of 290-320 nm and the inscription on the label SPF 30 or higher.
In the solarium, the main rays that affect our skin are the UVA spectrum with a wavelength of 320-400 nm. They are called "gentle killers", because they are with us all year round (UVB – only in warm weather); do not leave burns and redness, but destroy at deep levels; provoke the appearance of free radicals and the destruction of DNA. They are the main cause of skin photoaging and the appearance of pigment spots; an increase in the risk of oncology has already been mentioned.
Full version of the access article in Ukrainian