Seaweed could help ward off skin cancer

Seaweed could be the key ingredient to natural sunscreen for protection against skin cancer, according to new research.

Existing sun tan lotions typically work by either absorbing ultraviolet rays or physically blocking them. A variety of synthetic and natural compounds can accomplish this.

But most commercial options have limited efficiency, pose risks to the environment and human health or are not stable. To address these shortcomings, researchers looked to nature for inspiration.

The scientists turned to the natural sunscreen of algae, which is also found in fish slime, to make a new kind of shield against the sun's rays that could protect textiles and outdoor materials, as well as people.

They used algae's sunscreen molecules and combined them with chitosan, a chemical found in crustacean shells.

Testing showed their materials stood up well in heat and light, and absorbed both ultraviolet A and ultraviolet B radiation with high efficiency.

Professor Vincent Bulone, of the Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, said: 'Inspired by the strategy developed by fish, algae, and micro-organisms exposed to UV radiations in confined ecosystems, we have constructed novel UV-protective materials that exclusively consist of natural compounds.'

The new study, published in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, said as well as harming humans and other organisms ultraviolet radiations also alter the properties and durability of materials and affects their lifetime.

Prof Bulone said: 'It is becoming increasingly important to develop new biocompatible and environmentally friendly materials to address these issues.

'Here, we show these materials are biocompatible, photoresistant, and thermoresistant, and exhibit a highly efficient absorption of both UV-A and UV-B radiations.

'Thus they have the potential to provide an efficient protection against both types of UV radiations and overcome several shortfalls of the current UV-protective products.

'In practice, the same concept can be applied to other biopolymers than chitosan and used to produce multifunctional materials.

'Therefore, it has a great potential to be exploited in a broad range of applications in living organisms and non living systems.' 

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