The human skin microbiome remains unchanged after 24 h of sunscreen application
Understanding how sunscreens affect the skin microbiome is important, given their widespread use and the role of the microbiome in skin health. This study demonstrates that common sunscreens do not significantly alter skin microbiome diversity or viability, including that of the core skin microbiome genera, <i>Staphylococcus</i>, <i>Micrococcus</i>, <i>Kocuria</i>, <i>Cutibacterium</i>, and <i>Corynebacterium</i>. This highlights the resilience of the skin microbiota and supports the microbiome-safe profile of these products.
Authors
- Thomas Willmott (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3700-5986)
- Andrew J. McBain (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5255-5425)
- Sarah Lebeer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9400-6918)
- Matthew L. Smith (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0928-7082)
- Aline Moreira de Souza (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6140-5074)
- Catherine O’Neill (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5456-9396)
- Tim Van Rillaer (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0009-0000-6100-5735)
Institutions
- University of Antwerp (BE)
- Manchester Academic Health Science Centre (GB)
- University of Manchester (GB)
- Innospec (United Kingdom) (GB)
- Croda (France) (FR)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Applied and Environmental Microbiology
- Published
- 2025-12-17
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1128/aem.01476-25
- Primary Topic
- Dermatology and Skin Diseases
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00