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English Ivy

Image by Tamara Horová

Research published in June shows that nanoparticles from the English Ivy might make superior sunscreen to current brands, offering high broad spectrum protection and lasting for longer than current creams.

The trend towards organics has influenced industries like food, coffee and shampoo as well as pretty much everything you can conceivably imagine. Over the past few years, some people have become worried about sunscreen containing nanosized titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. While these absorb light in the UV spectrum and protect the skin, perhaps the tiny particles could be absorbed through the skin and unleash toxic hell on the body! These could be unfounded fears, and damage from the sun is far more likely than damage from the sunscreen.

Personally, I’m all for synthetic chemicals. I think dear old Mother N has some freaky chemical concoctions of her own, many of which did not evolve to help humans but people inject it into their face anyway. Natural does not mean safe in my book.

All the same, ivy nanoparticles make a strong case. They absorbed or scattered light in the UV spectrum over five times better than titanium dioxide. The absorption dropped quickly when reaching the visible spectrum, so like current sunscreens it would look near invisible on your face.

Just like ivy can stick to brick walls and trees, the ivy nanoparticles have adhesive qualities. They could lead to sunscreens which last longer and are more water resistant. Hey, maybe that’s why Adam and Eve seem to always have ivy covering their-

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ResearchBlogging.orgXia, L., Lenaghan, S., Zhang, M., Zhang, Z., & Li, Q. (2010). Naturally occurring nanoparticles from English ivy: an alternative to metal-based nanoparticles for UV protection Journal of Nanobiotechnology, 8 (1) DOI: 10.1186/1477-3155-8-12