In summer, not only the skin on the face and body should be protected from the sun. Also and especially the lips need sunscreen. You can read here which lip care with a protection factor is the best.

The skin on our lips is extremely sensitive and much thinner than on other parts of the body. It, therefore dries out more easily and cannot form natural sun protection when exposed to the sun, as the rest of the skin on the face can. Many people, therefore, use products with a sun protection factor, especially for their lips.

However, questionable ingredients have been found in some lip balms. Twelve lip care sticks with sun protection contain UV filters that are suspected of having an effect on the body like a hormone. And more than half of the care sticks tested contain kinds of paraffin – a by-product of petroleum production. They are said to be deposited in the liver, kidneys, and lymph nodes.

Dangerous filters

Most manufacturers rely on a mixture of different UV filters so that the product achieves the best UVA and UVB protection. In the EU, 27 such substances are approved for UV filters. However, as mentioned, some of them are suspected of having a hormonal effect. This has been proven, for example, in animal experiments, and UV filters have also been found in breast milk.

The filter substance thus finds its way from the product into the body. Undesirable side effects cannot be ruled out with other chemical UV filters either. Many of them have not yet been sufficiently researched to determine with certainty their effects on our hormonal balance.

Studies find very little information on the hormonal risk for the majority of the UV filters examined. Only four substances certified that there is sufficient information and that this does not provide any evidence of hormonal effectiveness.

Mineral alternative

Therefore, mineral filters such as titanium dioxide should be used for products with a sun protection factor. In addition, titanium dioxide is often used in nanosize – consumers can see this on the packaging because suppliers in the EU have to declare the use of nanomaterial in cosmetics.

And “nano” is much discussed. These small particles are found, for example, in cosmetics, sportswear, and house paints. Scientists warn of nanoparticles that are inhaled. The particles could then get into the lungs and cause inflammation there, for example. That’s why – according to the announcement – suppliers should do without the nano-sized titanium dioxide UV filter in sun sprays. In creams or lip care, the question of inhalation does not arise. They land on the skin.

Sun protection does not have to be expensive

The filters hide behind the names Ethylhexyl, methoxycinnamate, and benzophenone-3, which are almost unpronounceable for non-chemists. However, it is reassuring: You are on the safe side with all products rated “very good”, as they only contain harmless ingredients.