Sunscreen Ingredients Mimic Great Barrier Coral, Norse Sea Bacterium
This article was originally published in The Tan Sheet
Executive Summary
Larissa Bright Australia expects its broad-spectrum UV filters based on Great Barrier Reef coral’s natural sun-screening properties to be available within five years. Promar AS is developing UVAblue sunscreen technology that protects against blue-light damage using a pigment found in a sea bacterium.
Skin care firm Larissa Bright Australia and microalgae research firm Promar AS are developing sunscreen active ingredients to provide natural options for UV defense by leveraging the protective properties of marine life.
Larissa says its emerging broad-spectrum filters draw on 20 years of research by the Australian Institute of Marine Science on the “protective barriers developed by Australia’s Great Barrier Reef corals over millions of years to survive” in harsh sun.
The Queensland-based firm’s partner, the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization, spent another two years adapting the coral’s complex molecular code to be resistant to both UVA and UVB radiation in a single molecule. Larissa expects its UV filters based on the technology to be available within five years.
"We wanted to find a way to convert this natural method of coping with exposure to the intensive UV rays from Queensland's sunshine into a safe and effective sunscreen for human use," said company director Larissa Bright.
“We feel these filters will set a new standard in broad-spectrum sunscreen,” she added in a July 30 release.
CSIRO, Australia’s national science agency, teamed with Larissa on the project under the Enterprise Connect Researchers In Business program, a government-funded initiative that assists Australian businesses with research and development, according to the release.
“I had discussions with the CSIRO as to how we could bring this natural sunscreen into development for human use and how we could provide a sustainable supply of this sunscreen without harming or affecting our natural environment,” Bright said in a YouTube video posted July 29.
The collaboration has yielded a suite of 48 new sunscreen filters, she said.
CSIRO Research Scientist Mark York added that the filters are “clear in color, virtually odorless and very stable, which makes them easy to be incorporated into any emulsion.”
Sunscreen formulators typically use a combination of sunscreen actives to ensure broad-spectrum protection, including in many cases “chemical” sunscreen actives that have aroused concerns among environmental and public watchdog groups regarding their safety and stability.
In its 2013 Sunscreen Guide, the Environmental Working Group demonstrated a bias toward mineral sunscreen filters zinc oxide and titanium dioxide and was less comfortable with chemical filters, singling out oxybenzone as particularly questionable due to evidence suggesting it can disrupt hormone levels, among other adverse effects (Also see "EWG Supports Nano-Engineered Mineral Sunscreens In 2013 Report" - Pink Sheet, 27 May, 2013.).
Larissa touts its coral-inspired filters as safe, natural options.
“For the consumer, what this means is [that] in a sunscreen lotion, you will no longer have to mix three or four different chemical filters to create a broad-spectrum coverage for yourself,” Bright said.
“My hope is to bring this natural innovation from Australia, from our remarkable World Heritage Great Barrier Reef, a true coral sunscreen that’s been developed over millions of years in nature, to the rest of the world.”
The firm is seeking a commercial partner to realize full-scale production of its compounds.
Promar Focused On Blue-Light Protection
Promar, a subsidiary of Sanyøra, Norway-based Intravision Group AS, which develops light systems based on the use of color light technologies, also is developing sunscreen technology from the natural abilities of sea life to protect against damage from sun exposure.
The company, founded in 2000 to “deliver microalgae-based high-value compounds to a variety of market segments,” set out with a specific technology – and market gap – already in mind.
Promar approached SINTEF – the largest independent research organization in Scandinavia, according to its website – and the Norwegian University of Science and Technology seeking a substance capable of absorbing long-wavelength electromagnetic radiation in the 350- to 475-nanometer range where UV meets the visible light spectrum.
According to a July 26 announcement on SINTEF’s website, “currently, there are no sunscreens on the market able to filter out this type of radiation.”
At the same time, long-wavelength UV rays are capable of penetrating deep into skin to cells that give rise to malignant melanomas, the organization says.
Searching their library of microorganisms collected from Trondheim Fjord, an inlet of the Norwegian Sea, the researchers identified a bacterium – Micrococcus luteus – containing the pigment sarcinaxanthin that absorbs sunlight at the targeted wavelength.
The finding has led to the development of an artificial bacterium that produces the pigment “sufficiently effectively to be of commercial interest,” according to SINTEF. The organization is testing methods for producing the substance in large volumes.
Promar aims to commercialize the technology as UVAblue and is looking for a partner in the cosmetics industry to help further develop the product.
“We have been in France talking to many of the world’s largest cosmetics manufacturers,” said Promar Managing Director Audun Goksøyr. “Everyone we talked to was very interested in making use of this type of sunscreen factor in their products.”