Formulating Sun Care with Naturals

Serving again as a judge for the local science fair, this author reflected on the year’s prior event and a project adjacent to the garlic-for-acne study discussed in the last edition of this column. The project was an attempt to measure the in vitro SPF of commercial products using photosensitive paper from a child’s hobby kit. Expecting to find a solar focus in this year’s entries, it was surprising to see submissions take a different direction—toward capturing the electricity generated by UV light. Both titanium dioxide and plant pigments were the absorptive molecules of interest, and demonstrations showed how their energy transfer abilities could be capture UV energy rather than just deflect it.

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