# A Survey of UV Filters Used in Sunscreen Cosmetics
## 2 Results
### Composition Complexity of the Analyzed Preparations  
The complexity of composition, i.e., the number of UV filters per single photoprotective formulation, was recorded. For the sake of brevity, ingredients that do not have a photoprotective function were not included in the list. The components of the cosmetic products for children are given in Figure 3. Among the 50 analyzed preparations, the largest single group comprised products with two or four components (each 22.0% of all products). In addition, 18.0% of products contained five UV-protective substances in a single preparation, and 14.0% contained six. Products containing three, one, seven, and eight UV filters in one preparation accounted for only 8.0%, 6.0%, 6.0%, and 4.0% of the study group, respectively. Among the adult preparations (Figure 4), the largest single groups of cosmetics included five (27.0%) or four (26.0%) photoprotective substances in a single preparation. Products with three or six components each accounted for 12.7%. The smallest groups included two, one, eight, or nine products, constituting 6.7%, 6.0%, 5.3%, and 0.7%, respectively. Hence, for both adults and children, the largest group of products include four and five UV-protective substances, while those for children have two components. Figure 3: Percentage of preparations for children (n = 50) with specific numbers of sunscreen ingredients (percentages add up to 100%). Among the single-component preparations, the most common components were physical UV filters (Table 2). Titanium oxide (nano form) was dominant (100%) in child formulations (n = 3), while TiO\({}_{2}\) (55.6%), ZnO (11.1%), TiO\({}_{2}\) (nano) (11.1%), octocrylene (11.1%), and ethylhexyl methanoxycinnamate (11.1%) were found in the adult preparations (n = 9). \begin{table}
\begin{tabular}{c c c c} \hline \hline \multicolumn{4}{c}{**Analysis of Preparations with One Sunscreen Substance**} \\ \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{**for Children**} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{**for Adults**} \\ \hline \multirow{4}{*}{
\begin{tabular}{c} Titanium dioxide (nano) \\ (TiO\({}_{2}\) nano) \\ \end{tabular} } & Titanium dioxide (TiO\({}_{2}\)) & 55.6\% \\ \cline{2-3}  & & Titanium dioxide (nano) (TiO\({}_{2}\) nano) & 11.1\% \\ \cline{2-3}  & & Zinc oxide (ZnO) & 11.1\% \\ \cline{2-3}  & & Octocrylene (OC) & 11.1\% \\ \cline{2-3}  & & Ethlyhexyl methanoxycinnamate (EHMC) & 11.1\% \\ \hline \multicolumn{4}{c}{Analysis of preparations with two sunscreen substances} \\ \hline \multicolumn{2}{c}{for children} & \multicolumn{2}{c}{for adults} \\ \hline Titanium dioxide (TiO\({}_{2}\)) & 63.6\% & Zinc oxide (ZnO) & 40.0\% \\ \hline Zinc oxide (ZnO) & 45.5\% & Titanium dioxide (TiO\({}_{2}\)) & 30.0\% \\ \hline Titanium dioxide (nano) (TiO\({}_{2}\) nano) & 36.4\% & Titanium dioxide (nano) (TiO\({}_{2}\) nano) & 20.0\% \\ \hline Zinc oxide (nano) (ZnO nano) & 27.3\% & Zinc oxide (nano) (ZnO nano) & 10.0\% \\ \hline Octocrylene (OC) & 18.2\% & Phenylbenzimidazole sulfonic acid (PBSA) & 20.0\% \\ \hline \multicolumn{4}{c}{Butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane (BMBM; Avobenzene)} & 20.0\% \\ \cline{2-3}  & & Ethlyhexyl salicate (EHS) & 20.0\% \\ \cline{2-3}  & & Diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate (DHHB) & 10.0\% \\ \cline{2-3}  & & Octocrylene (OC) & 10.0\% \\ \hline \hline \end{tabular}
\end{table} 
Table 2: The preparations containing one or two sunscreen components, with the percentage share of individual substances in a given group. Figure 4: Percentage of preparations for adults (n = 150) with specific numbers of sunscreen ingredients (percentages add up to 100%). The physical UV filters also dominated in the two-component preparations in both study groups (Table 2). In the group of preparations for children (n = 11), the most common were TiO\({}_{2}\) (63.6%), ZnO (45.5%), TiO\({}_{2}\) (nano) (36.4%), and ZnO (nano) (27.3%). Two chemical filters, octocylene and bis-ethylhexyloxyphenylol methoxyphenyl triazine, were present but below the value of 20%.