Abstract
By the virtue of their nature, cosmetic products are used to clean, perfume, change the appearance of the human body’s various external parts and maintain them in a good condition. Their main sites of action may be exemplified by the nails, the hair system, the epidermis, the external genital organs and the mucous membranes of the oral cavity.
Sunscreen preparations consist of organic chemicals and inorganic materials. Inorganic materials include chemicals that scatter UV light physically like TiO2 and ZnO. Organic materials such as avobenzone reduce the amount of UV light to which the human skin is exposed by absorbing the radiation and subsequent disposal in different ways. One of the way of disposal may be by undergoing photoinduced decompositions which not only cause a reduction of the sunscreen UV-protective capacity during usage but may precipitate allergic or toxic degradates. Thus undoubtedly a high photostability is an important requirement for the effectiveness of sunscreen products.
Many researchers patented their work on this aspect of protection of avobenzone from photodegradation using varying methodologies.
This review article discusses some of the patented works done in enhancing the photostability of avobenzone and its formulations.
Keywords: Avobenzone, enhancement, patents, photostability, sunscreens, ultraviolet.
Graphical Abstract