Posted on 06/10/2005 5:40:05 PM PDT by neverdem
MEXORYL is not the most notorious drug on the black market. Only a few insiders, most of them women, even know its worth, let alone where to buy it. But it is one of the most ordinary substances ever to be bootlegged. Mexoryl SX, made by the Paris-based skin-care giant L'Oréal, is an illegal sunscreen in this country, one that is thought to be particularly useful in preventing wrinkles.
Called by dermatologists one of the most effective filters of all wavelengths of ultraviolet light, Mexoryl has been used in sunscreen lotions sold in Canada and Europe for more than a decade. But the Food and Drug Administration has not yet approved it.
The reason for the delay is difficult to discern, because the F.D.A. does not comment on drugs going through its sometimes lengthy approval process. Dr. Darrell S. Rigel, a dermatologist at New York University, however, said safety is not an issue. "It's just bureaucracy," he said.
And so the cognoscenti ask for Ombrelle Extreme ($11), Garnier's Ambre Solaire ($24) or the particularly coveted Anthélios XL by La Roche-Posay ($40 and more for a relatively small tube) at certain drug stores - like Zitomer and Cambridge Chemists on Manhattan's Upper East Side - or order it online from Canadian or French pharmacies or even on eBay. Though the F.D.A. does not track down and prosecute those consumers, the purchases are technically illegal.
When asked about the decision to sell the unapproved sunscreens, representatives of both Zitomer and Cambridge Chemists declined to comment.
"I started buying it from Canada," one 46-year-old New Yorker said about Anthélios, which she has used for three years. (She insisted that her name not be published because she did not want it publicly connected with illegal purchases.) The Canadian pharmacy Web site feelbest.com sells a...
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
FReepmail me if you want on or off my health and science ping list.
MEXORYL ... how is it derived/produced? And what is the generic chemical name for the compound?
put me on the list!
'Part of the problem is that only within the last 10 years have scientists come to understand the biomechanics of UVA damage. "Up until 1995 the thinking was that UVA was not as important as we now know," Dr. Rigel said.
So far the Food and Drug Administration has approved only three ingredients protective against UVA: zinc oxide, titanium dioxide and avobenzone (trade name Parsol 1789).
But Mexoryl seems more effective than any of these at protecting against UVA light. In 2000, Canadian and French researchers slathered six brands of sunscreen and sunblock on the backs of volunteers and exposed their skin to a UV sunlamp for 15 minutes. The product containing Mexoryl (along with avobenzone, titanium dioxide and other ingredients) was more than twice as effective in protecting against UVA light as any of the others. The study was published in the Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology.
Mexoryl's secret is its chemical structure, Dr. Rigel said. "You can achieve much more efficient and powerful and effective protection with this one ingredient, or you can add it to another ingredient and get an incredibly high SPF protection level, all the way up to SPF 90," as well as UVA protection, he said.'
Best pings on FR, BTW.
Staying out of the sun is even more effective and it is FREE...
My friend in South Africa uses spf 100 sunscreen.
Don't fall for sunscreen propraganda...sunlight is one of the BEST sources for Vitamin D...just make sure to regulate your exposure, and avoid getting burned! Many sunscreens are actually dangerous...the chemicals they contain are absorbed into your body through the skin. Not good.
True. Early in the day (morning is best) to avoid any potential burning.
It isn't just bureacracy. It is more sinister than that. One head of the FDA explicitly stated once that the primary function of the FDA is to protect the American pharmaceutical industry.
Drugs invented overseas do not get approved after decades of safe use. One of our companies come out with something that has a similar mechenism of action and voila - approval! Despite a much shorter safety screening period.
Having said that though, I really wonder if completely blocking the sun is really *that* good for us? We need some sunlight.
I doubt this stuff is going to turn back the clock or do anything miraculous.
Even if it did, we will learn 10 years after lathering up with it that the active ingredient, while maybe preventing wrinkles, seeps into the system and causes liver damage or some horrible brain disease.
< Step off your Cynics Soapbox now Bluefish >
It's derived from a mixture of carnitas, chipotle peppers, chicharrones, and tequila, hence the name.
WHAAAAAAAA????
That's fine, I don't mind getting sun on most of my body, but not on my face. For evidence I have only to look at my mother-in-law, who is 95. She very, very rarely goes out in the sun and she has unbelievably soft, clear, wrinkle-free skin. Still a beauty in her tenth decade. But close relatives who did expose themselves to the sun have the usual assortment of wrinkles and sags. I noticed the same thing with my mother, who never sunbathed, and her sister, who went out in the sun all the time, even though she wasn't much given to actual sunbathing. My mother was 19 years older than her sister and looked as if she were the same age.
No kidding.. You can whip up a batch yourself in the blender.
bump for later.
This is a pdf format. Page 2 has the various names, chemical and structural formula. One name is Terephthalylidene Dicamphor Sulfonic Acid.
Just Google Mexoryl. It's easier to find where to buy it than find its chemical and structural formula. See comment# 18. Thanks for the complement. I get a lot of grief from troglodites by posting articles from the Times. They see conspiratorial politics behind articles where I see none, just science or medicine.
I'm a Retin-A and sunscreen woman, I get my Retin-A over the San Diego border in Tiajuana. Real cheap there.
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