What's in your sunscreen? Have you every looked at the back of the bottle and said what... It can be a little over whelming trying to decipher and understand what you’re putting all over your skin. First, let’s differentiate between an active and inactive ingredient. Active ingredients are those that will be actively preventing the sun from being absorbed into your skin. Inactive ingredients act as the medium for those active ingredients to get to you. There are many different types of active ingredients out there used as actual sunscreens. Below is a list of both sunscreens and sunblocks used in today’s market. Along with names of the molecules are the wavelengths of which they will protect you.
Molecule |
Molecular Structure |
Range of Proection (in nm)
|
Zinc Oxide |
 |
290-380
|
Titanium Dioxide |
 |
290-320
|
Para-aminobenzoic Acid(PABA) |
 |
290-320
|
Padimate O(PABA Ester) |
 |
290-315
|
Benzophenone(general) |
 |
320-400
|
Avobenzone |
 |
320-400
|
Oxybenzone |
 |
270-350
|
Dioxybenzone |
 |
206-380
|
Sulisobenzone |
 |
250-380
|
Octyl Methoxycinnamte |
 |
280-310
|
Cinnoxate |
 |
270-328
|
Homoalicylate |
 |
290-315
|
Octyl Saliclate |
 |
260-310
|