New noninvasive approach assessingin vivosun protection factor (SPF) using diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) andin vitrotransmission

SUMMARY Background/Purpose In the past56years, many differentin vitromethodologies have been developed and published to assess the sun protection factor (SPF) of products, but there is no method that has1:1correlation within vivomeasurements. Spectroscopic techniques have been used to noninvasively assess the UVA protection factor with good correlation toin vivoUVA-PF methodologies. To assess the SPF of sunscreen product by diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (DRS) technique, it is necessary to also determine the absorbance spectrum of the test material in the UVB portion of the spectrum (290‐320nm). However, because of the high absorbance characteristics of the stratum corneum and epidermis, the human skin does not remit enough UVB radiation to be used to measure the absorption spectrum of the applied product on skin. In this work, we present a new method combining the evaluation of the absolute UVA absorption spectrum, as measured by DRS with the spectral absorbance ‘shape’ of the UVB absorbance of the test material as determined with current in vitrothin film spectroscopy. Methods