Gellineau 1

552 University Rd, UCSB

jgellineau@ucsb.edu

November 6, 2019
Writing 2 Publishing House, Inc.
1234 Gaucho Rd., UCSB

Dear Mrs. Feldman,

My research paper, “Perspectives on Sunscreen,” depicts how college students need to know the
importance of using sunscreen through disciplines that they could be partaking in. The discipline
of chemistry focuses on the chemicals in sunscreens and describes them in a more complicated
way, while the discipline of biology focuses on how sunscreen affects the skin in a more
comprehensible way. Students can relate their own major to sunscreen in order to better
understand the way sunscreen works and to understand what each discipline has to offer. Also, it
could help students decide what their major could be by seeing what each discipline does on a
day to day basis and what perspective they hold on a specific topic.

I chose the topic of sunscreen because I wanted something that had to do with skincare but had a
lot more research done behind it. I myself want to become a cosmetic chemist as a chemistry
major, one of the disciplines I chose for this paper. Biology as another discipline I chose because
it coincides with my major, supporting the information with a similar kind of science. It was very
interesting looking through the library database in order to find peer-reviewed articles and books
on the topic of sunscreen because I was able to expand my knowledge on what I had already
known about sunscreen. Using my own background knowledge, I was able to find the sources
that would benefit me most as well as portray my argument effectively to my readers. This
enables me to be very efficient in looking for credible sources as well as utilize them to present
my arguments in a comprehensible way.

I appreciate how your journal is free for UCSB students to teach them the necessary skill of
looking for peer-reviewed journals for their research purposes, as well as broaden their
knowledge on certain topics that interest them and learn about more they have not heard of
before.

It would be a pleasure to meet with you in order to discuss the possibility of the publication of
my essay. If it is possible for you, I can call you at 256-325-6483 on November 10th at 2:30pm.
Enclosed is my essay that I wish to publish, and if you wish to see more of my research for the
essay, I also have an annotated bibliography with two additional sources. Thank you so much for
this opportunity and I look forward to meeting with you soon.

Sincerely,

Jasmyn Gellineau
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Jasmyn Gellineau

Professor Feldman

Academic Writing

06 November 2019

Perspectives on Sunscreen

Sunscreen, one of the most skipped steps in a skincare routine, is the most important step

in order to save your life. Different disciplines view the topic of sunscreen in different ways.

Discourse communities are groups who share similar interests and qualities, such as the

disciplines of biology and chemistry. When presented with a certain topic, they each ask their

own research questions based on the way they perceive that subject. These questions can be

answered through peer-reviewed articles and books that endure a long review process through

several editors called peers before being published in an academic journal. This essay introduces

the disciplines of chemistry and biology. In comparison to biology, chemistry focuses heavily on

the chemicals within sunscreen to explain their ideas to other chemists whereas biology

concentrates on how sunscreen affects the skin to other biologists as well as common readers.

The discipline of biology tends to focus on qualitative data when biologists are

conducting an experiment. In regards to sunscreen, biologists acknowledge how the skin is

affected with and without the use of sunscreen by focusing on the visual appearance of the skin,

examining marks such as a tan or a sunburn. After a topical examination, they observe what goes

on in the skin at a cellular level. In the book, Percutaneous Absorption of UV Filters Contained

in Sunscreen Cosmetic Products: Development of Analytical Methods by Zacarías León

González, diagrams and pictures of the skin are displayed. They are labeled in great detail with

brief explanations of each part within the text. González depicts a side view cutout of the skin,
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showing the different layers, such as the “epidermis,” “dermis,” and the “bloodstream,” shown in

“Fig. 1.1 Schematic drawing of a human skin section” (González 4). Through these pictures and

schematics, biologists can also ask what problems can happen to the skin with and without the

use of sunscreen? Again, González describes how the sunscreen penetrates each layer of the skin.

He uses the diagrams to portray the movement of the chemicals (4). He then shows another

schematic on the specific layers the sunscreen goes through and how it is eliminated from the

body (10). Based on the ways González portrays the information, the reader can better

comprehend the material he is presenting. These diagrams show that biologists care mostly about

the visuals of the skin, like the surface and just below, rather than what reactions take place in

the skin. He provides more scientific terms, but they are defined into simpler terms as well as

with a visual representation of what they are explaining. This gives readers more comprehension

of what they are reading, whether or not they are a biologist or have taken biology classes.

On the other hand, a chemist’s data is based on quantitative information. While biologists

focus on the skin, chemistry concentrates on the chemicals within sunscreen. This quantifiable

approach to compose a sunscreen solution consists of many equations and numeric results. For

instance, a question a chemist could ask is what are the chemicals within sunscreen and what do

they do? Afonso and several other chemists in the peer reviewed article, “Photodegradation of

avobenzone: Stabilization effect of antioxidants,” provides a list of chemicals in which filters the

UV rays of the sun to protect from sunburn (Afonso et al.). Avobenzone, a common chemical

used for UVA/UVB ray protection, is “known to be photounstable” (Afonso et al.). In order to

find out what best stabilizes the sunscreen, the chemists list out the different antioxidants, such

as “Vitamin C” and “ubiquinone,” and lists each of their amounts of stabilization it provides at

different concentrations, which are “1.25” for Vitamin C and “2.5” for ubiquinone (Afonso et
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al.). To show the quantitative analysis, the higher the concentration, the more it stabilizes

avobenzone. Seeing the ways the chemists present the stabilization of avobenzone portrays the

focus on specific chemicals with little explanation about them. Their audience is typically other

chemists or people who are more familiar with chemical terminology. They do not elaborate on

the chemical structures of each stabilizer or why it has a certain threshold on how much it will

stabilize avobenzone. The chemists highlight the main chemicals that do provide stabilization,

like “Span® 60” and “Nipagin®,” but still do not describe the structures within them (Afonso et

al). Because of the registered trademark name for the ingredients, typical readers nor chemists

can understand what the chemical is unless they have worked with it at some point. Some of the

chemicals can be recognizable by a common person who has some knowledge in skincare

products, like “Vitamin C” and “Vitamin E” (Afonso et al.). This observation is meant for

readers to get a better sense of what kinds of products can stabilize avobenzone and look for

these common ingredients for their own research. Readers can buy the right sunscreen products

based on the information they already know and learn about new ingredients that they can now

search for in other products. The ways that the chemists exhibit the data behind what chemicals

stabilize avobenzone effectively supports the credibility in their work because of several

experiments done with each chemical. Using different concentrations and different chemicals to

compare what stabilizes avobenzone best. They also incorporated other chemists’ experiments

with the stabilizers and avobenzone into their own experiments of stabilization in order to

present their findings on the best stabilizers. The chemists in the article also portray visual aids

such as line graphs that display the relationship to photostability and wavelength. They explain

what goes in in the graphs in great detail, however, most of the details would not be known to

someone who has not taken a few chemistry classes or is a chemist themselves. Line graphs are
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much more difficult to interpret because they are of quantitative measure. There are no clear

visuals and pictures of what is truly being depicted in the graph the way they are shown in

González’s book, making it more difficult for a typical reader to understand what is illustrated on

the graph. Overall, the chemistry side of sunscreen presents obstacles for readers to grasp a better

understanding of sunscreens.

Ultimately, the discipline of biology highlights the features of skin with and without the use of

sunscreen while chemistry hones in on the chemicals within the sunscreen for protection from

the sun’s rays. Chemists provide data that may not be as understandable to readers as it would be

presented by a biologist through their complicated terminology. Biologists consider the more

physical aspects of the sunscreen product while chemists focus on the calculations in order to

satisfy what the biologist says that the product needs to have. They intertwine in the modes of

skincare but have their differences in the interpretations of sunscreen.