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Commercial sunscreens contained nanoparticles
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Researchers with the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, in a presentation Thursday to an FDA advisory panel, reported that some sunscreens contained nanoparticles but were not absorbed into the skin in a recent study.
Sunscreens tested by the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) contained titanium dioxide or zinc oxide and were labeled “nano,” the researchers said. The study addressed specific concerns about safety and efficacy in sunscreens containing nanoscale materials.
Katherine M. Tyner, PhD, of CDER, presented the study and said nanotechnology is being applied to products, in part, because the small particles can cost-effectively cover large areas. The researchers noted that while there is no official definition of nanotechnology, they were using a scale of engineered or end products in the range of 1 nm to 100 nm.
Sunscreens were analyzed on pigs and standard skin models. In vitro models with the sunscreen formulas were tested with and without UV exposure, and with UV exposure and sunburn.
“The sunscreens themselves [did not] go through the skin,” Tyner reported.
The Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Pharmacology Advisory Committee provides advice on scientific and technical issues concerning the safety and effectiveness of drugs for use in a broad spectrum of human diseases.