Brand Name Sunscreen: Are You Getting Burned?

Overview

Objectives/Goals The objective is to determine if different brands of sunblock with the same SPF number block the same amount of UV light. Methods/Materials Different brands of sunscreen were applied to a clear, plastic page protector. An acrylic sheet was placed on top of the drops, to form an even, thin layer of sunscreen. UV sensitive Sun Art paper was placed underneath the page protector and exposed to the sun. After exposure, the color intensity on the Sun Art paper was measured by scanning the Sun Art paper and analyzing it using the Photoshop Elements 3.0 computer program. Results SPF 30 Banana Boat and SPF 30 Banana Boat Kids were more effective than SPF 30 Trader Joe's in 8 out of 9 comparisons or trials. SPF 30 Banana Boat was more effective than SPF 30 Target in 2 out of 3 comparisons. SPF 50 Banana Boat and SPF 50 Banana Boat Kids were more effective than SPF 50 Coppertone in 5 out of 6 comparisons. SPF 50 Banana Boat and SPF 50 Banana Boat Kids were more effective than SPF 50 Target in 2 out of 3 comparisons. Surprisingly, the effectiveness of SPF 50 Coppertone was consistently lower than two of the SPF 30 samples. Conclusions/Discussion Different brands of sunblock with the same SPF number did not block the same amount of UV light. Some of the sunscreens with high SPF were not as effective as those with lower SPF.

Competition history

• CSEF 2011 Product Science (Physical) (Junior Division Only) · Entry J2123

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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