Abstract
A sunscreen''s effectiveness is usually determined by its ability to prevent UV radiation-induced skin erythema. This criterion requires subjective interpretation. A new method of evaluating sunscreens is proposed based on the known effect of UV-B radiation (290-320 nm) to inhibit DNA synthesis. Hairless mice were used; sulisobenzone (Uval) and aminobenzoic acid (Pre-Sun) sunscreens differ substantially in their ability to prevent inhibition of epidermal cell DNA synthesis by UV-B radiation. By estimating the UV-B dose required to inhibit DNA synthesis by 50%, with and without sunscreen, a protective factor of 5.6 and 14.4 was calculated for sulisobenzone and aminobenzoic acid, respectively. This is an objective way to evaluate sunscreen effectiveness and could be a useful screening procedure for sunscreen preparations before final efficacy testing in humans.

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