Salicylates Vs. Octinoxate Comparison

Based upon the lambda max’s that were determined from the sunscreen, the individual active ingredients would not be able to be determined because the literature values for the active ingredients are similar to each other. This means that for a lambda max of 310, the individual active ingredient could be one of four different ingredients, which are: octinoxate, PABA derivatives, cinnamates, and salicylates. However, the two different brands of SPF 50 that were analyzed had similar spectra, which showed that the sunscreens that had the same SPF would produce similar spectra. The only difference between the NO-AD (Not Advertised) and the Coppertone Sunscreen Lotion: Ultra Guard was that the Coppertone sunscreen contained an extra active ingredient …show more content…
Shown in Figure 6, the absorbance/concentration at lambda max vs SPF once again shows a positive correlation, with the slope of the line being positively 0.1895. The pattern follows the absorbance vs SPF with the higher the absorbance/concentration, the higher the SPF value and the lower the absorbance the lower the SPF. Also Figure 8 has the same pattern, but the absorbance values correspond to a different wavelength. However, one very noticeable difference in the absorbance/concentration vs SPF and the absorbance vs SPF graph at a wavelength of 312 nm was the position of the SPF 15 sunblock. Sunblock is different from a sunscreen because a sun blocker, blocks the light from reaching the skins surface, thus scattering the light and a sunscreen screens the light from either absorbing or entering the skin. The absorbance of light at the boundary between UVA and UVB light is high in the sunblocker compared to the sunscreen. This makes sense in that it blocks the sun from reaching the skin’s surface, therefore the blocker would absorb the most light and be the most effective at a wavelength of 312 nm. The next most effective would be the SPF 50 and the last would be the SPF