Scientists say combining sunscreen and insect repellent could be a mistake. Here’s why

Application sunscreen And insectifuge Together could lower protection against ultraviolet -harmful ultraviolet radiation, scientists warned in a new study.

CNRS researchers in France have evaluated the combined use of sunscreen And one of the most sold insectors in the country.

The results, published in the journal Parasites and vectors, reveals that the mixture of the two products can cause a reduction in UV protection after application.

Like spreading diseases insects As tiger mosquitoes spread in many countries, it has become an increasingly common habit to apply a sunscreen and repellents together during outdoor activities.

The combination has particularly become crucial for travelers and other people who engage in outdoor activities and are exposed to mosquitoes and solar radiation.

In the last researchers, scientists have tested how the mixture of sunscreen and insectulum UV radiation.

They applied the combination on skin biopsies and subjected them to artificial and natural UV rays issued by the sun to faithfully reproduce the real conditions.

“To our knowledge, our study is the first to assess the potential toxicity of the combination of real sunscreen and insectors by using ex vivo human skin samples,” wrote scientists.

Use of a new IA System, the researchers then analyzed the thin sections of the biopsy, corresponding to the different layers of the real skin.

The AI ​​tool allowed scientists to measure the response to the stress of skin cells to radiation.

The application of commercial sunscreen has proven to offer “effective protection” against UV radiation on the skin model.

On the other hand, the repulsive of mosquitoes as a single product has had no protective or toxic effect.

However, the researchers found a decrease in UV protection when a mixture of sunscreen and insectifuge was used.

“In particular, we have found that the simultaneous application of the insectuge with sunscreen considerably reduced the UVB protective effect of sunscreen,” wrote researchers.

Scientists hope that the results could help to enlighten better application protocols for the two protective creams.

“The methodology described has the potential of informing health policy directives and end users about how to choose repellents and effective and safe solar screens,” they wrote.

The research also offers an overview of the use of AI as well as techniques such as digital morphometry to assess tissue layers and determine the extent of skin lesions.

Scientists hope that their research methodology can be used in future studies to collect information on the toxicological profile of other topically applied formulations.

They believe that this can also be useful for diagnostic purposes such as evaluation of the skin response to harmful substances like pesticidesAir pollutants and water contaminants.