The benefits of sun protection manufactured by the cosmetics industry and used almost daily by millions of people across the world do not exempt this type of product from the possibility of generating some type of health problem. Without doubt, sun protection is fundamental and highly beneficial in avoiding the harmful consequences of ultraviolet radiation (burning, cell ageing or the growth of skin carcinomas). However, the composition of sun protectors is invigilated by health authorities to avoid other types of harm.
Among other limitations, European and American authorities limit the maximum concentration of a very specific component, recently studied by researchers at the University of Cordoba in collaboration with the University of Valencia, to 8%. The component is a filter known as EDP, associated with hormonal disorders and for which an analysis method has been developed which allows the discovery of more details about the metabolism in vivo (until now it has only been studied at a laboratory level) of EDP. In this way, researchers have developed a simple method that, in an automated way and using mass spectrometry, allows the detection of the presence of EDP and its metabolites in urine, through which 0.5% of the total are eliminated, according to the research study published in the Journal of Chromatography A.