Topical Sunscreening Agents

Topical sunscreens and the UV filters in them have achieved mainstream significance in today’s age. Many advances have occurred in sunscreen science, making this space vibrant and exciting. Inorganic filters include titanium dioxide and zinc oxide, with a potential new entrant into the space, cerium salts, in the future. Among chemical sunscreens, bemotrizinol awaits US FDA approval as the first chemical filter to undergo the Maximum Usage Trial (MUsT) process. Newer proprietary filters such as Methoxypropylamino Cyclohexenylidene Ethoxyethylcyanoacetate (MCE) and Phenylene Bis-Diphenyltriazine (Triazorb) and the anticipated HAA-299 filter are all expected to enhance sun protection from the new age sunscreens, by providing more coverage in the UVA region to achieve spectral homeostasis. Further addition of antioxidants and tints, which can further reach into the visible light and the infrared region, may be of great clinical significance to preventing pigmentary conditions in SOC. This chapter gives a comprehensive but simple overview of the UV filters from inorganic filters to chemical filters to just discovered agents with protective properties in the solar spectrum.