Developing nanoparticles capable of adhering to skin has led a team of scientists from Yale University to come up with a new type of sunscreen, and it’s one that they claim is safer, because it lacks chemicals that can penetrate the dermis and cause potential health issues.
The authors, who published their findings in Monday’s edition of the journal Nature Materials, explained that while most commercial sunblocks do a good job of providing protection from the sun’s rays, they can go beneath the surface and enter the blood stream. If and when they do, they could potentially even help cause the very skin cancers they intent to prevent.
Dr. Mark Saltzman, the Goizueta Foundation Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Yale, and his colleagues have developed an alternative that is made from bioadhesive nanoparticles. Their sunscreen remains on the surface of the skin and does not enter the bloodstream, as the particles used to make it are large enough to prevent entry through the surface of the epidermis.
Furthermore, their nanoparticles are large enough to prevent entry into the relatively more open hair follicles on the skin, they added. Using mouse models, they tested their product versus more traditional sunscreens, and found that the two worked equally well at preventing sunburn.
Less risk of skin cancer, sex hormone problems
“The idea for creating an improved sunblock came pretty quickly after we had discovered that we could make nanoparticles that were strongly adhesive to skin,” Dr. Saltzman told redOrbit via email. “In thinking about applications of skin-adhesive particles that would have a big worldwide impact, we arrived at sunblock.”
Why sunblock? It’s because when commercial sunscreens absorb UV light, a chemical change takes place that results in the creation of oxygen-carrying molecules known as reactive oxygen species (ROS). If the ingredients of a sunscreen is able to penetrate the skin, this process could cause cellular damage and potentially cause a person to develop skin cancer.
Co-author Michael Girardi, a professor of dermatology at Yale Medical School who specializes in skin cancer development and progression, said that little research has been done involving the ingredients of sunscreen and the generation of ROS, but that it was an area of concern. However, studies have shown traces of sunblock chemicals in the blood, urine, and breast milk of users–chemicals linked to disruptions of the endocrine system and the blocking of sex hormones.
While there are safety concerns with current sunblocks, Dr. Saltzman told redOrbit that “the advantages of sunblock far outweigh the disadvantages of using even current formulations of sunblock, including the chemical sun blocking agents. Nonetheless, we have tried to increase the benefit to risk ratio through reformulation by taking advantages of the capacity of BNPs to prevent penetration of organic sunblock chemicals, and increase their substantivity.”
So when might this new-and-improved sunblock be available? He said that his team is “working on next steps, including testing in human volunteers” and that they were hopeful that it could be made available to the general public in the next few years.
—–
Feature Image: Thinkstock
Comments