Exposure to UV radiation causes long-term skin damage, such as wrinkles, premature aging, and even skin cancer. As such, applying sunscreen is essential in keeping your skin protected. Since UVC radiation is typically blocked by the earth's atmosphere, sunscreens on the market usually focus on blocking UVA and UVB radiation.
A sunscreen functions like a mirror that sits on your skin's surface and reflects UV rays. Therefore, it is crucial that sunscreen product testing is performed to determine not only the SPF value but also the active ingredients that you leave sitting on your skin for long periods of time.
Testing Process for Over-the-Counter Sunscreen Products
Our laboratories perform our sunscreen testing using high-performance liquid chromatography. The process analyzes the raw materials, excipients, and sunscreen actives according to their respective USP compendial monograph. We also look for potential contaminants such as benzene by employing our fully validated in-house methods.
Analysis for inorganic sunscreens titanium dioxide and zinc oxide is performed using fully validated methods that employ closed vessel microwave digestion. Afterward, we perform an analysis employing either AAS or ICP-OES.
Some of the common sunscreen actives we test for are
- Aminobenzoic acid
- Avobenzone
- Cinoxate
- Dioxybenzone
- Homosalate
- Menthyl anthranilate
- Octocrylene
- Octyl methoxycinnamate
- Octyl salicylate
- Oxybenzone
- Padimate O
- Phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid
- Sulisobenzone
- Titanium dioxide
- Trolamine salicylate
- Zinc oxide
Trusted Chemical and Material Analysts
We have developed numerous methods that put our product testing services on top. We handle analysis and product testing for sunscreen, lotion, Cosmetics & Beauty Products, Food & Beverages, and more.
Contact us with your inquiries, and we'll gladly discuss them with you.