New sunscreen will be available this fall

The Food and Drug Administration approved Anthelios SX today. It is a moisturizer and sun blocker from L’Oreal.

Anthelios SX will contains avobenzone (blocks UVA) and octocrylenem (blocks UVB). Both ingredients are already found in sunscreens sold in the U.S. What’s new about Anthelios SX is that it will also contain ecamsule, which blocks short UVA and has not previously been sold in the U.S. Ecamsule has been marketed in Europe and Canada as Mexoryl SX since 1993.

UVA rays account for approximately 95% of all ultraviolet energy. They can cause permanent damage to DNA. UVA passes through glass, and the effects do not show right away. By comparison, UVB rays cause sunburn but do not penetrate as deeply as UVA rays.

The product will be available in the fall, just in time for ski season.

7/24/06 15:03 JR

Hi, I’m JR

John Russo, Jr., PharmD, is president of The MedCom Resource, Inc. Previously, he was senior vice president of medical communications at www.Vicus.com, a complementary and alternative medicine website.