Photochemistry of sunscreen components in polar and non-polar solvents

CHED 350

Cheri Watkins, email.Cheri@gmail.com, Candace Cantrell, ccantrell@oakwood.edu, and Kenneth LaiHing, laihing@oakwood.edu. Department of Chemistry, Oakwood College, 7000 Adventist Blvd., Huntsville, AL 35896
Sunscreens are composed of both inorganic and organic components which work together to block and absorb harmful ultraviolet (UV) radiation. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration monitors these components but not potentially harmful decomposition products, formed as a result of sunscreen being exposed to UV rays. The inorganic and organic components of sunscreen were extracted using a mixture of water and decane. Absorbance spectra were taken of the inorganic and organic layers before and after being exposed to UV radiation using UV/VIS Spectroscopy. GC-MS analysis was also used to determine what compounds were present. The remaining solution was exposed to UV light to observe compounds that had been absorbed at the water-decane interface. Variations in the absorbance spectra and in the GC-MS analysis were observed before and after radiation and at the interface.