Yes markf17 I heard this yesterday and immediately of course linked this to our product. ZnO in fact has been
used for centuries as a healing agent in inflammatory skin conditions. I'm too lazy atm to provide a link however I can vouch for the fact that dermatologists are using ZnO topically as treatment for actinic keratoses which are sometimes a precursor for skin cancers.
The issue until now has been that, as a sunscreen, ZnO has been very messy to use and quite uncosmetic. You will have seen the data on its effectiveness in blocking UV and more so as a nano particle due to the "plating" effect which gives much more complete coverage than the usual ZnO preparations which naturally "clump" or give granular coverage due to the particle size at the macro level. The solution so far has been to apply more sunscreen to plug the gaps, and manufacturers have marketed this by providing colourful products to try to convince the consumer to use an uncosmetic product. Works for kids who love pink or yellow noses etc but I rarely see an adult using these nowadays.
So now we have a product that is invisible on the skin, provides far superior coverage, is not only non-toxic (refer to exhaustive testing in the EU prior to approval) but is also anti-inflammatory and could help prevent skin cancers at the cellular level (which is why dermatologists are using it). Moreover as a physical agent there are no concerns about breakdown products from the substrate, it lasts longer on the skin (numerous research papers about chemical agents breaking down in hours - hence the Cancer Council recommendation to re-apply sunscreen after 2-3 hours), and the incidence of allergic reactions is pretty well zero. This is great news for people with sensitive skin who react to some agents such as cinnamates and for babies.
The only agent I know of that has come close in the past is titanium dioxide, which when applied is a great screen however is highly reflective and the wearer's skin has a white sheen to it. Again not a problem on the beach unless one is worried it will downgrade one's fake tan, however for day to day use by consumers in the city, they're just not going to use it and go to work looking rather pale each day.
The other issue is that with normal ZnO, if worn under the eyes, will reflect on to the cornea and increase UV damage to the eyes. This is an issue brought up by ophthalmologists in the past, again sorry I'm lazy for a link, you can search yourself on this. Now as far as I know there's been no research on nano particle ZnO in this area, however one can draw one's own conclusions as to whether plastering on macro particle ZnO would be comparable to a nano ZnO which is used in thinner layers. It will be interesting to see if research on this is undertaken in future.
So there are tons of material to market the benefits, and the pharmas and cosmetic houses are past masters at doing so. It won't be little old us doing it but with fierce competition out there and more consumer awareness of UV damage long-term, one can only surmise that the houses will seek to exploit any competitive advantage to expand their revenue. In this case however they do in fact have the distinct advantage that the beneficial properties of the product are real and backed up by scientific data, not just in-house artificial percentage improvements as touted endlessly by hair companies and eyelash/mascara makers. You know the ads, 73% better/longer/brighter in 5 days, etc etc.
So the cleverer houses would, I think, be well advised to start educating the consumer from a health perspective, with the anti-aging benefits woven into the campaign. It never ceases to amaze me that many women continue to pursue youth in their old age, when if they'd acted on advice to protect their skin from their younger years, there would be much less of a problem to start with. Sexist I know but let's face it, we are talking mainly to women when it comes to daily skin care.
I guess the trick will be to avoid over-educating consumers as otherwise if there is too much take-up, skins will not age as fast and the houses might negatively impact their anti-wrinkle sales in the long term. But that is another story.
