Suncayr Marker: a nanochemical sunscreen solution built by students

03-Nov-2014 - Last updated on 16-Dec-2016 at 16:09 GMT

Related tags Sunscreen

Nanotechnology engineering students from the University of Waterloo, in Ontario, Canada, devised the product, which when applied directly to skin changes colour to indicate when wearer’s sunscreen is no longer effective.

The marker functions as a companion product, similar to fragrance primer, that’s applied in advance of sunscreen. The Suncayr product is UV responsive, changing colour when ultra violet light shines on it.

The team behind this innovation—Rachel Pautler, Andrew Martinko, Hayden Soboleski, and Chad Sweeting—have won several awards and are currently in the running for the James Dyson Award, which supports the work of up-and-coming design engineers. Winners will be announced in early November.

Skin care for the future

Recent research suggests the use of sunscreen early in life reduces later risk for melanoma. According to findings published this summer in the scientific journal Pigment Cell and Melanoma, studies conducted on gray short-tailed opossum (a mammal with skin apparently similar to humans), indicate that the application of SPF lotion reduced pre-melanotic lesions ten times.

So there’s real market potential for products that could increase the efficacy of sunscreen.