Unfortunatelly I cannot recommend any sunscreens sold in the US. It is high time that the FDA does something about allowing proper UVA-filters into the US!!! (We have 28 filters in EU, 9 of them are for UVA; the US has 16 filters whereas 2 of them are against UVA: Avobenzone and Zinc Oxide. But Avobenzone is always used together with Octyl Methoxycinnamate (USAN:Octinoxate) which makes it not photo stable :( (Both Avb. and OMC are unstable SS; both alone or together can be stabilized with Tinosorb or Octocrylene).
Conclusion: you just have to order sunscreens from Europe!!! (L`Oreal group can be bought through the internet: Vichy, La Roche-Posay-but not the ones that are av. in the US!!! They lack UVA prot. from 340nm!, Helena Rubinstein, Garnier. These sunscreens are also sold in Canada.)
What to look for on the ingredients label when buying a sunscreen?
Parsol 1789 Butyl methoxy dibenzoylmethane BMDM UVAII-I
Escalol 6300 4-methyl benzylidenecamphor MBC
Mexoryl SX Terephtalylidene dicamphor UVAII
sulfonic acid
TDSA
Mexoryl XL Drometrizole trisiloxane DMTS UVAI
Uvinul N 539 Octocrylene OC
Uvinul T 150 Octyltriazone OT
Titanium dioxide TiO2 UVB-UVAII
Zinc oxide ZnO UVAII-I
Tinosorb® M (USAN Bisoctrizole, INCI Methylene Bis-Benzotriazolyl
Tetramethylbutylphenol) UVAI
Tinosorb® S (USAN Bemotrizinol, INCI Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl
Triazine) UVAII
Octocrylene
Diethylhexyl Butamido Triazone
The following are the FDA allowable active ingredients in sunscreens:
USA nm max.effect nm
p-Aminobenzoic acid (PABA) up to 15 %. 260-313 283
Avobenzone up to 3%. BMDM 310-400 358
- Cinoxate up to 3%. 270-328 290
- Dioxybenzone up to 3%. 06-380 284-327
- Homosalate up to 15%. 290-315 306
- Menthyl anthranilate up to 5%.
- Octocrylene up to 10%. 287-323 303
- Octyl methoxycinnamate (Octinoxate) up to 7.5%. 280-310 310
- Octyl salicylate up to 5%. 260-310 307
- Oxybenzone up to 6%. 270-350 290-325
- Padimate O up to 8%. 290-315 311
- Phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid (Ensulizole) up to 4%.
- Sulisobenzone up to 10%. 250-380 286-324
- Titanium dioxide(not micronized) up to 25%. 280-360 280-340
- Trolamine salicylate up to 12 %.
- Zinc oxide (not micronized) up to 25%. 250-500 378
- Micronized TiO2 & ZnO less UVA protection, better UVB prot.
Mexoryl® SX (USAN Ecamsule, INCI Terephthalylidene Dicamphor Sulfonic Acid) - UVAII absorber used in combination with other ingredients for UVB
Others additionally approved within the EU[ and other parts of the world include:
- 4-Methylbenzylidene camphor (USAN Enzacamene) 310-400 345
- Tinosorb® M (USAN Bisoctrizole, INCI Methylene Bis-Benzotriazolyl Tetramethylbutylphenol) 290-388 370
- Tinosorb® S (USAN Bemotrizinol, INCI Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine) 290-370 340
- Mexoryl® SX (USAN Ecamsule, INCI Terephthalylidene Dicamphor Sulfonic Acid)
- 310-400 345
[*]Neo Heliopan® AP (USAN Bisdisulizole Disodium, INCI Disodium Phenyl Dibenzimidazole Tetrasulfonate)
[*]Uvinul® A Plus (INCI Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate) 352-360 356
[*]Uvinul® T 150 (USAN Octyl Triazone, INCI Ethylhexyl Triazone) 290-320 300-320
[*]Uvasorb® HEB (INCI Diethylhexyl Butamido Triazone)
[*]Parsol® SLX (INCI Polysilicone-15) 310-330 315
[*]Amiloxate (USAN), INCI Isoamyl p-Methoxycinnamate)
[/list] A lot of the ingredients not approved by the FDA are relatively new and developed to absorb UVAII and I.
A good sunscreen is composed of several chemical compounds to be able to achieve full protection against UVB and UVA-rays and to be able to stay photo stable in sunlight!
edited by Matthias: topic title changed to lower case
Edited by Matthias, 08 April 2008 - 05:11 PM.