An article published in the latest edition of Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) in the weekly newsmagazine of the American Chemical Society has created an impact on customers by describing the effects of nano-sized particles used in sunscreen products.
Those particles are so small that 50,000 of them could fit along the human hair’s width and since they are used in sunscreen applications, bikers, golfers, sunbathers, and many others would benefit from the product.
Lauren K. Wolf, C&EN Associate Editor, explained that few sunscreens are developed based on particle-based technique for providing protection to the people from the extremely harmful UV rays emitted by the sun. The particles of those products are produced from titanium dioxide or zinc oxides that ensure less skin irritation for the persons having sensitive skin and provide long-lasting shielding. Sunscreen products that contain larger particles make the skin appear whiter and paler. Hence, some manufacturing companies make use of nano-sized particles in order to prevent the paling effect.
The article highlights the controversy that has been aroused regarding the penetration of these particles into the skin and causing side-effects to the body. Wolf provides both scientific proofs indicates that sunscreens with nano-sized particles may cause such effects to the body and conflicting proofs indicate that they are harmless. According to the article, the bottom line at present is to use large quantity of this sunscreen because the proved advantages in decreasing the risk associated with skin cancer and pre-mature skin aging overshadows all theoretical risks.
Source: http://www.acs.org/