Gaia uses
the only two natural UV-A sunscreens approved by the US FDA, namely
Zinc Oxide and Titanium dioxide (Gaia do ‘not’
utilise nano-particles). We will not use the 3rd approved
chemical Avobenzone, because this is entirely synthetic and is incompatible
with the former chemically inert mineral options, which simply act
as microscopic mirrors on the skin and so safely refract (scatter)
all UV-light away from such protected areas.
Unless a product is selected to contain ‘sufficient’
titanium dioxide and/or zinc oxide or alternatively Avobenzone (trade-name:
Parsol 1789) (butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane) [or not passed for
safety in the U.S., Mexoryl (bicyclo[2.2.1]heptane-1-methane sulfonic
acid,3,3'-(1,4-phenylenedimethylidyne)bis[7.7]-dimethyl-2-oxo),
or Tinosorb S (bis-ethylhexyloxyphenol methoxyphenyl triazine) and/or
Tinosorb M (methylene bis-benzotriazolyl tetramethylbutylphenol),
and that such preparation is used in sufficient quantity
(2mg/cm2 - usually 4 times that used in real-life, ie), you will
not be adequately protected from UV-A. Chemical types are dangerously
absorbed into the skin, whilst mineral types lie safely on the surface,
so from a safety perspective, the mineral types are clearly superior.
Avobenzone ‘absorbs’ the whole UVA spectrum at 310-400
nm. It does not provide any UV-B absorption. Titanium dioxide and
Zinc oxide are approved UV-A minerals and provide ‘refractive’
protection against the entire UV spectrum. The most commonly used
benzophenones (oxy & dioxy-benzones) only protect in the 320-340
nm portion of the UVA range and hence are not true UV-A screens,
yet products can claim to be ‘broad spectrum’, since
this is literarily correct, irrespective of how weak or incomplete
such protection might be.
Gaia also use nutritional Para-amino benzoic acid (PABA),
a FDA approved natural UV-B sunscreen. Industry-wide use of synthetic
PABA esters have created reputations as skin sensitisers, yet nutritional
PABA, a natural component of folic acid and a B-complex vitamin
constituent of many whole-foods, when stabilised with anti-oxidants
such as green tea extracts, remains the safest UV-B screen available
besides the refractive minerals, but unlike these, actually bonds
to the skin’s surface proteins, affording durable UV-B absorptive
protection should the minerals be inadvertently rubbed off by clothing
or inevitably be toweled off.
Gaia also uses minimal anti-oxidant vitamin E,
which is synergistic (combined enhancing effect greater than individual
contributions) with PABA. Sesame oil is
used for its anti-oxidative lignin and phenolic constituents and
for its relatively high refractive index. Tannic acid
is also used in some (darker) products as an effective UV-absorber,
polyphenolic anti-oxidant. Both sesamol and tannic acid have specific
skin carcinoma-inhibiting properties, as does also Green
tea, to an even greater degree than the former two
and over and above the latter’s anti-oxidant properties, so
much so, that green tea extracts have been the most promising substances
in the field of skin-cancer prevention and treatment for the past
decade, limited only by it’s non-patentability.
Actinic keratosis (a scaly or crusty
bump that forms on the skin surface) and squamous cell
carcinoma (a rodent ulcer), are benign pre cancers
and superficial cancers respectively, both caused by UV-B
exposure. Basal cell carcinoma and the
usually fatal malignant melanoma are far
more serious deep-seated skin cancers caused by UV-A
exposure. Clearly both UV-B and UV-A are best avoided, if not carefully
controlled; yet SPF-type sunscreen products usually fail dismally
to address UV-A. This is the principal rationale behind our impassioned
educational exposé and provision of carefully formulated
products to meet this dire need.
In particular, green tea extracts are
effective cancer preventive agents for
many of the adverse effects of sunlight on human health and may
thus serve as natural alternatives for photoprotection, in part
by inhibiting the erythema response evoked by UV radiation, reducing
the number of sunburn cells, protecting epidermal Langerhans cells
from UV damage and reducing the DNA damage that forms after UV radiation
(Elmets C et al, J Am Acad Dermatol,
44(3), 2001); possess antioxidant and sunscreen activity,
as well as UV-B signal transduction blocking activity (Einspahr
J et al, Recent Results Cancer Res, 163:151-64; 2003);
inhibit UV-induced activation of transcription factor and proinflammatory
pathway (Xia J et al, Int J Mol Med,
16(5), 2005); enhance chemopreventive apoptosis selectively
in focal basal cell hyperplastic areas of the epidermis (Lu
Y et al, Carcinogenesis, 26(8), 2005); affects several
biomarkers that are involved in UV-carcinogenesis, including inhibition
of angiogenic factors and recruitment of cytotoxic T cells in the
tumor microenvironment (Mantena S
et al, J Nutr, 135(12), 2005); protects keratinocytes
from photodamage (Huang
C et al, Arch Dermatol Res, 296(10), 2005);
reverse extracellular matrix degradation induced by UV-A
(Lee J et al, J Dermatol Sci, 40(3),
2005) and protects against UV induced DNA damage (Morley
N et al, Photodermatol Photoimmunol Photomed, 21(1), 2005)
and prevents photocarcinogenesis via inhibition of angiogenic
factors and induction of antitumor immune reactivity (Mantena
S et al, Photochem Photobiol, 81(5), 2005). Most Gaia
Organics products are formulated with green tea. |