Already criticized for the use of cells deemed carcinogenic or dangerous for the environment, certain facial sun creams are also seeing their effectiveness called into question. After testing thirteen products labeled SPF 50 or SPF 50, the consumer association UFC-Que Choisir considers that “five [of them] do not respect the expected levels of sun protection” and announces that it is contacting the authorities so that they sanction the brands concerned.
While the SPF 50 and SPF 50 ratings of sunscreens “are supposed to provide the highest levels of protection against ultraviolet rays,” UFC-Que Choisir estimates that “a third of these products do not provide the level of protection poster “. According to Public Health France, exposure to solar radiation is the main cause of skin cancer.
“In view of the high proportion of potentially misleading labeling, UFC-Que Choisir calls on manufacturers to make their products conform to the indices displayed,” explains the association in a press release published Tuesday April 23.
The association also calls on the General Directorate for Competition, Consumption and Fraud Repression (DGCCRF) “so that it can sanction brands marketing such products, intensify controls on sun protection products and take measures measures to stop these practices.
Brands well anchored in the landscape
The UFC-Que Choisir notes that it is “rare” to see “such a proportion of failures, and that they come from brands as well anchored in the landscape as Vichy, Biotherm or Lancaster”. The two other brands affected are Isdin and Rituals.
Furthermore, the association “presses the Ministry of the Environment [as to] the need to regulate environmental claims for cosmetic products”. Because, if the vast majority of products tested are “free of compounds undesirable for human health, a large proportion on the other hand (ten out of thirteen) receive a poor environmental rating due to the presence of components having harmful effects on aquatic organisms.”