Is Zinc Oxide the best sunscreen ingredient?
Tuesday, 22 April 2008
The answer appears to be yes, going by this table compiled by the Environmental Protection Agency featuring chemical and physical sunscreen ingredients as well as the type and amount of ray protection that they provide and their class.
Do you see what I see? Zinc Oxide provides the best broad spectrum protection against both UVA and UVB rays! It looks to be better than Ecamsule, which is commonly known by the trade name Mexoryl. Which means, the industry claims that Mexoryl is the most potent photostable anti-aging sun filters for UVA and UVB rays may not be so true afterall. In fact, I found an article refuting that claim and stating that Mexoryl is an inferior sunscreen active ingredient compared to zinc oxide although I have to qualify that the source is a company that sells sunscreen using zinc oxide.
I find this information both to be intriguing as well as perplexing. Can this be 100% true? Is this part of the ongoing debate between physical sunblocks vs chemical sunscreens?
For those who are confused, physical sunscreens contain either Zinc Oxide or Titanium Dioxide and form a film on top of the skin that reflects or scatters UV light while chemical sunscreens absorb UV rays before they can do any damage. But whether you pick a physical or chemical sunscreen, the most important consideration is that your formula is broad spectrum and offers protection against both UVA and UVB rays. And you may like to know that UVB rays are the primary cause of skin cancer while UVA rays cause wrinkling, skin sunspots and are also now implicated in skin cancer.
More research is definitely required to find out if Zinc Oxide is indeed better than Mexoryl but my first thoughts were, if this is true, my earlier entry about Mexoryl sunscreens no longer holds water. And my second thoughts are, my Keys Solar RX SPF30 Sunblock is good and I can junk my Mexoryl chemical sunscreens!
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April 24th, 2008 at 8:16 am
[...] Please read my post Is Zinc Oxide The Best Sunscreen Ingredient? for a comparison between Zinc Oxide and [...]
April 26th, 2008 at 1:43 am
Thanks for raising this issue. I bought into the Mexoryl hype and was using Vichy sunblock daily on my face for almost 2 years. I recently switched to a sunscreen that contains zinc oxide but I’ve been feeling uneasy about it, not knowing if it’s just as good or better than Mexoryl. After reading your post and the article you linked to, I now feel much better about my decision.
grace: Hey, glad that this was helpful to you. I had the same queasy feeling in the past too, not knowing if the ingredients were indeed effective.
April 26th, 2008 at 7:12 pm
[...] Updated with the rating compiled by EPA as indicated in my entry here. [...]
April 26th, 2008 at 7:23 pm
[...] see the following rating compiled by Environmental Protection Agency as indicated in my entry here. Ecamsule is the other name for [...]
April 26th, 2008 at 7:32 pm
[...] Sixth safest sunblock rated by EWG I don’t have sensitive skin but I was keen to try Lavera SPF40 Neutral Sunblock because this product came out six on the list of best sunblock in terms of safety by the Environmental Working Group. The product was assessed to provide effective sun protection against UVA and UVB rays and having a rather low hazard in terms of the safety and non toxicity of the ingredients - rated at 2 due to the Ethanol (grain alcohol). You may also like to refer to the following rating compiled by Environmental Protection Agency as indicated in my entry here. [...]
April 26th, 2008 at 7:38 pm
[...] And I honestly think that paying US$19.95 for the 100ml broad-spectrum sunscreen with 16 percent uncoated nano-zinc oxide is quite a steal. I mean that price for a sunblock featured on the Environmental Working Group Skin Deep Report as the safest, as well as rated the most effective non-waterproof sunblock for UVA and UVB in the Consumer Reports July issue? Just refer to the following rating compiled by Environmental Protection Agency as indicated in my entry here. [...]
April 26th, 2008 at 7:45 pm
[...] to the following rating compiled by Environmental Protection Agency as indicated in my entry here. More important perhaps is that Badger SPF30 Sunblock is water resistant for up to 40 minutes [...]
April 26th, 2008 at 7:55 pm
[...] comes in a 30ml small bottle, contains both zinc oxide and titanium dioxide (refer to the following rating compiled by Environmental Protection Agency), yet is readily available over the counters at only [...]
April 26th, 2008 at 8:11 pm
[...] ingredients and this sunblock isn’t able to provide good UVB protection. See the following rating compiled by Environmental Protection [...]
April 26th, 2008 at 8:16 pm
[...] both titanium dioxide and zinc oxide which provides adequate protection according to the following rating compiled by Environmental Protection [...]
April 26th, 2008 at 8:25 pm
[...] though Titanium Dioxide does offer considerable protection according to the following rating compiled by Environmental Protection [...]
May 5th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
[...] Mexoryl SX (aka Ecamsule) alone may not provide complete protection going by the following rating compiled by Environmental Protection [...]
May 9th, 2008 at 3:12 am
I was wondering what you thought of the widely available product Neutrogena Sunblock Lotion for Sensitive Skin SPF 30?
Ali: I understand the product uses 9.1% of Titanium Dioxide as its active ingredient so it is a physical sunscreen suitable for sensitive skin. The product is priced for mass market and looks quite decent because titanium dioxide does provide considerable coverage (zinc oxide provides better protection), provided you apply enough of it. But I have no idea how’s the texture though.