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Mrs.Stevens

Physical Science

12 December 2018

Which Sunblock Brands Work Best?

Ever sence I was able to understand the damages the sun causes to your skin. I

have been on a look out for the best sunblock out there. I couldn’t seem to find a way to

see which sunblock is best. So for this project I will be testing three sunblocks I have

used in the passed and see which sunblock brand is best. I thought that ​if I coat UV test

strips with Surface Spray, Surface Lotion, Neutrogena Lotion, Neutrogena Spray,

Banana Boat spray, and Banana Boat lotion, then the Surface Lotion would have the

least amount of UV exposure.

How do Sun Rays Affect Your Skin?

The sun rays affect your skin by sun rays going far into the dermis layer of your

skin then it damages the skin cells and your DNA cells (Sun’s). The dermis layer is a

thick layer of skin that is stretchy and muscular, the dermis layer gives the skin its

flexibility and strength (Page). How this works; is that the sun’s rays will pass through

the outer parts of your skin then if it gets into the deeper parts of your skin, that is when

your skin cells can be damaged. Some peoples’ skin react differently to sun burn than

other peoples skin. For example some peoples’ skin might burn when they are exposed

to the sun while others may tan (Sun’s). Sun rays can also darken your skin because

when you are exposed to sunlight there is more melanin and your skin becomes; darker
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which may also come with wrinkles or sun damage spots (Page).

How Long After the Sun Exposure Do You Start Seeing Sun Damge to the Skin?

Sunburn is a fast and diligent reaction the body makes to the exposure of sunlight.

Becoming tan is a late and or slow reaction the body makes to the exposure of sun

(Binderson). When your skin gets damaged by the sun you cannot see the result of the

sun damage right away, but it is still there. After a couple hours after you have been in

the sun for a long time, you may become itchy, dry, red, or if you are one of the lucky

few, tan. Even if your body tans and does not burn that does not mean you are not getting

sunburn because again tanning is a late reaction to the sun’s rays and burning is a fast

reaction to the sun’s rays. Once you get to the age about thirty to thirty five you will start

to develop wrinkles in the places you did not sunblock (Mayo).

Is Spray or Lotion Sunscreen More Effective? Why?

Spray-on sunblock is easier to use, lighter, and does not create as big of a mess as

lotion sunblock and people may use it more because of the convenience of it. Also it is

hard to tell which part of your body is being protected and it has some alcohols in it that

may affect your skin and may be less effective compared to lotion. One of the biggest

things that lotion provides and spray doesn’t is it is protecting you from melanomas

which is the severest form of skin cancer (Julia). Lotions can provide a deeper protection

than sprays since you actually have to rub it in. And another thing ,is, since you have to

rub lotion in, it’s protection lasts longer than a spray. But no matter what sunblock you

use the ​American Academy of Dermatology advises you to put sunblock on 15-30

minutes before you go outside (HealthStatus).

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How Does Sunblock Work?

There are inorganic chemicals in sunblock that reflects sun rays like how white

paint reflects light. And then there are more inorganic chemicals that moisturize your skin

so you don't become dry from the sun. The chemicals that reflect sun rays are Zinc Oxide

and Titanium Dioxide. SPF on sunblock stands for Sun Protection Factor: this is the

number of how much the sunblock protects you against the sun which could cause seven

different types of skin cancers. Once you get over 50 SPF there is no significant change

to how much you will get protected. A sunblock with 15 SPF protects you from 93% of

UVB rays, 30 SPF protects you from 97% of UVB rays, and 50 SPF protects you from

99.4% of UVB rays (Grifantini).

Why Do Sun RaysCcause Damage to the Skin?

There are three types of UV rays first there are UVA rays, second, there are UVB ray and

third, there are UVC rays. UVA rays age skin cells faster; so you will look older faster

and can also damage DNA cells. UVA rays are the cause of wrinkles and are what are

used in tanning beds. UVB rays have slightly more energy than a UV ray and this

damages the DNA directly and they are also believed to be the cause of most skin

cancers. UVC rays have the most energy out of the other two rays but they do not reach

the inner atmosphere and are not in sunlight but can still cause cancer. UV rays are the

strongest around 10am and 4pm in the summer this is because this is when it is clearest

outside and the sun is directly above us (What).

Can You Get Sunburned Through Clothes and or Windows? Why or Why not?

Yes, you can still get burned through windows if the windows are not laminated
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glass. But nowadays the car manufactures are putting laminated glass on the cars

windows which will block out most of the UV rays (O’Conner). Glass does not block UV

rays unless they are coated with something or tinted. Fun fact people who drive a lot will

get alot of wrinkles on the left side of their face because that is where the sun hits them,

unless they live in England (Person). Some people believe when you put clothes on and

cover yourself up, you are being protected from the sun well that is not true. Covering up,

in some cases does, protect your skin but in most cases it doesn’t. Some types of clothes

that can affect weather or not you are getting sun damaged are, wavy density, the type of

fabric, color, thickness and weight, tension and stretch, fabric condition (Person). A little

test to see if you are getting sunburned through your clothes, is if you hold up your

T-shirt up to the sun and if it hurts your eyes, then you are not getting protected from the

sun (Mr. Tang).

I thought that​ if I coat UV test strips with Surface Spray, Surface Lotion,

Neutrogena Lotion, Neutrogena Spray, Banana Boat spray, and Banana Boat lotion,

then the Surface Lotion would have the least amount of UV exposure, and I found that

Surface lotion sunblock still had the leas UV ray exposer. ​I was somewhat suprised that

my hypothisis was right because Surface is not a main stream sunblock brand like Banana

Boat or Neutrogena. The results of my project were pretty simmila. It still was clear

which sunblock was the best, second, best and worst. It turned out that the lotions were

better than the sprays. For the brands Surface was the best Banana Boat was the second

best and Neutrogena was the worst.​ ​ The average amount of UV protection that each

brand of sunblock had was 3. As you can see sunblock does not protect you from the sun
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100% so don’t expect it to.

Works Cited

Binderson, Hailey. “The Known Health Effects of UV.” World Health Organization, World

Health Organization, 16 Oct. 2017, ​www.who.int/uv/faq/uvhealtfac/en/index1.html​.

Grifantini, Kristina. “How Does Sunscreen Work?” LiveScience, Purch, 25 June 2010,

www.livescience.com/32666-how-does-sunscreen-work.html

HealthStatus. “Health Status.” Health Status, HealthStatus Team, 11 Jan. 2017,

www.healthstatus.com/health_blog/acne-2/sunscreens-lotions-or-sprays/.

Julia, Ann. “Is a Spray Sunscreen Really As Effective as a Lotion?” FutureDerm, 18 Oct. 2017,

www.futurederm.com/is-a-spray-sunscreen-really-as-effective-as-a-lotion/

Mayo, William. “Sun Allergy.” Mayo Clinic, Mayo Foundation for Medical Education and

Research, 24 July 2018,

www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/sun-allergy/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20378082​.

Person. “Can You Get Sunburnt through a Car Window?” The Sydney Morning Herald, The

Sydney Morning Herald, 8 July 2006,

www.smh.com.au/entertainment/books/can-you-get-sunburnt-through-a-car-window-200

60708-gdnwor.html​.

Page, Elizabeth. “Structure and Function of the Skin - Skin Disorders.” Merck Manuals

Professional Edition, Feb. 2017,

www.merckmanuals.com/home/skin-disorders/biology-of-the-skin/structure-and-function

-of-the-skin​.
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“Skin Cancer Foundation.” Squamous Cell Carcinoma (SCC) - Skin Cancer.org, 19 May 2015,

www.skincancer.org/prevention/sun-protection/clothing/protection.

“Sun's Effect on Skin - Health Video: MedlinePlus Medical Encyclopedia.” MedlinePlus, U.S.

National Library of Medicine, 31 Oct. 2018,

medlineplus.gov/ency/anatomyvideos/000125.htm.

“What Is Ultraviolet (UV) Radiation?” American Cancer Society, American Cancer Society, 17

Mar. 2017,

www.cancer.org/cancer/skin-cancer/prevention-and-early-detection/what-is-uv-radiation.

html.