Sunscreens made from pollen can protect beach fans from sunburn while minimizing harm to coral reefs, new research finds.
Researchers have discovered that gels made from pollen from camellia flowers (Camellia sinensis) block ultraviolet (UV) light and existing commercial sunscreens, such as those made with oxybenzone and octino acid salts. However, unlike these traditional options, pollen-based gels did not cause coral bleaching in laboratory experiments. Coral bleaching is the process by which the coral expels the symbiotic algae that it lives in, leaving it more vulnerable to environmental stresses in the coral.
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Researchers estimate that between 4,000 and 14,000 tons (3,600 to 12,700 tons) of UV filtering compounds from chemical sunscreens, peaks during tourist season. These compounds accumulate in the environment, including oxybenzone, octocrylate, and octinooxate, and are associated with coral bleaching. Mineral sunscreens such as zinc oxide and titanium oxide are thought to affect aquatic animals, but scientists are still studying these effects.
“We wanted to develop natural sunscreens that are non-allergenic to humans, environmentally friendly and affordable, effective at affordable natural sunscreens,” Cho Nam-Joon, a Singapore materials scientist at Nanyang University of Technology, said in a statement.
A recent study published in the Advanced Functional Materials Journal on September 4th revealed that Cho and her colleagues began doing this with pollen from plants in the tea family. “We know that pollen is naturally UV resistant, as its shell needs to protect its contents from thick environmental conditions, including sunlight,” Cho said in a statement. Pollen is usually considered non-allergenic because camellia flowers are self-pollinating.
Related: How do sunscreen work?
The team prepared a water-based gel made from pollen extracted from camellia flowers and sunflowers (Helianthus Annuus). We then tested how well these gels blocked UV light, including both UVA and UVB, as well as the wavelengths of UV light.
Both gels absorbed UV rays, the team found, but Camellia Gel absorbed more UVB rays (shortier wavelength lines that mainly cause sunburn and skin cancer). When tested in mice, both gels prevented skin damage when mice were exposed to UV light for several minutes a day. Mice that did not receive sunscreen had thinning skin after the same UV exposure.
The sunscreen coefficient (SPF) of Camelia pollen sunscreen was about 30, and the SPF of sunflower pollen sunscreen was about 5. When applied to a person’s forearm, Camelia Pollen applied a skin (5 degrees) cooler to the skin (5 degrees) to the skin’s Sonscoleen.
Scientists also looked into how these sunscreens affect corals. They added commercially available chemical sunscreen and sunflower gel samples to a brine tank containing commercially available chemical sunscreen and hard corals called acropora. The coral exposed to regular sunscreen began bleaching after 2 days and became completely white after 2 weeks. However, the coral exposed to pollen-based sunscreen still appeared to have not been bleached after two months.
“What they’re doing is the first step, but they’re the first step that’s really important,” Downs said. Some of the next steps could be to assess whether pollen-based sunscreens are toxic to other wildlife in their natural environments, Downs said. But if these tests are successful, “in 5-8 years, this may be a commercial product.”
This article is for informational purposes only and is not intended to provide medical or skincare advice.
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