Abstract

Protecting human skin against harmful UV radiation from the sun is an acute problem nowadays. Due to decreased thickness of the ozone layer, more UV light reaches the ground surface. This is one of the reasons of increased frequency of skin diseases. Titanium dioxide (TiO₂) nanoparticles are embedded with sunscreens into the skin to attenuate UV radiation through absorption and scattering. The effectiveness of the interaction between particles and UV light depends on nanoparticle sizes.

The aim of the study is to predict how the optical properties of the superficial layer of the human skin (stratum corneum) can be modified by means of nanoparticles, assuming that these particles are spheres and do not aggregate (this is achieved by application of some modern treatment techniques). In-depth distribution of TiO₂ particles embedded into the skin after multiple applications of sunscreens was determined experimentally using the tape-stripping technique. A computer code implementing the Monte Carlo method was developed to simulate photon migration within the 20-μm thick horny layer partially filled with nano-sized TiO₂ spheres, 35–200 nm in diameter. Dependencies of UV radiation of two wavelengths (310 and 400 nm) absorbed by and totally reflected from, as well as transmitted through the horny layer on the size of TiO₂ particles were obtained and analyzed. Silicon nanoparticles of the same diameters were considered for comparison. The most attenuating particles were found for both cases.

The harmful side-effect of UV light absorption by TiO₂ particles is the generation of free radicals. Study of this phenomenon, using an electron paramagnetic resonance technique, was also carried out in this thesis. Comparison of the strength of the effect was done for two particle sizes administered onto either glass slides or porcine ear skin.