Especially at the beginning of summer, when the skin is not yet sufficiently used to the intensive solar radiation, the question of effective and harmless UV protection arises. Not only when staying by the sea or in the mountains, but also on the balcony at home or during the lunch break in the street cafe, you can quickly burn your face. What is needed is natural sun protection with a high sun protection factor that causes as little skin irritation as possible. It should not contain any unnecessary, controversial ingredients and should also be suitable for sensitive skin. Natural cosmetics manufacturers rely primarily on mineral sun protection.
How do mineral sunscreens work?
Mineral sun protection is based on mineral UV filters such as titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. While chemical UV filters penetrate the skin and absorb UV radiation there, mineral UV filters have a purely physical effect. The particles form a barrier on the skin's surface. They reflect and scatter sunlight so that the radiation cannot penetrate the skin.
What are the advantages of mineral sunscreens?
Mineral sun protection protects immediately after application. There is no waiting period required for it to take effect. In addition, when combined correctly, mineral UV filters offer broadband protection, i.e. they protect against both UVA and UVB rays. Mineral sun protection is generally well tolerated by the skin - even for people with sensitive skin or allergies.
Can mineral sunscreens be harmful to your health?
- The body's own production of vitamin D is impeded
Like chemical sun protection filters, mineral UV protection on the skin impedes the body's own formation of vitamin D. Even a chemical or mineral SPF 20 blocks the formation of vitamin D by around 95 - 99%. A deficiency in this vital vitamin is part of the greatest health problems of our time. Studies show that vitamin D not only improves our protection against colds and depression, but also against diabetes, colon cancer, osteoporosis and heart attacks. Therefore, you should never use mineral or chemical sun protection products in daily continuous use.
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Suspected genetic damage caused by titanium dioxide
In addition to zinc oxide, titanium dioxide (INCI declaration: Titanium Dioxide or CI77891 or E171) is a frequently used mineral UV sunscreen. This pigment is widely used in many industrial products such as paints, varnishes, plastics, but also in sunscreens, cosmetics, toothpaste and medicines. There are health concerns when titanium dioxide is ingested into the body.According to an assessment by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) from 2021, there are suspicions of genetic damage caused by titanium dioxide, if the filter particles enter the body. Titanium dioxide is not considered safe for consumers, animals or the environment. A hazard to aquatic organisms from titanium dioxide released from products cannot be ruled out.
Because of the possible health risk for consumers, titanium dioxide has been banned in food throughout the EU since 2022. However, titanium dioxide is still approved without restrictions for pharmaceuticals and cosmetics, such as toothpaste or sunscreens.
- Health risks from nanoparticles
According to the EU Cosmetics Regulation, mineral sunscreens may contain nanoparticles. Unfortunately, not even in natural cosmetics some companies apply nano filters. By definition, nanoparticles are tiny particles in the size range from 1 nm (nanometer) to 100 nm. Mineral nanoparticles in sun creams have the advantage that they can be better distributed on the skin. They also counteract the unpleasant, visually disturbing "whitening" of classic mineral sunscreens based on titanium dioxide or zinc oxide.
What is the problem with nano filters? Due to their tiny size, nanoparticles can penetrate the skin barrier more easily and then accumulate in the body, for example in organs or lymph nodes. Especially with sensitive baby's and children's skin, weakened skin barrier or already damaged skin, e.g. B. by sunburn, nanoparticles can easily enter the body.
Researchers have observed in animal experiments that nanoparticles can cause inflammation and organ damage in the body. Titanium dioxide in particular is considered problematic. In 2017, a French study in animal experiments confirmed a connection between nano-titanium dioxide and severe intestinal inflammation, including colon cancer.
So far, little is known about the long-term effects of nanoparticles in the body. There is no scientific evidence that nanoparticles are harmless in the body.
How do you recognize nanoparticles in your cosmetics? According to the EU Cosmetics Regulation, the extremely small particles below 100 nanometers must be declared as "nano" in the list of ingredients.
If you are looking for a mineral sunscreen without nanoparticles, pay attention to the declaration of the ingredients. If the label "Nano" is behind the filter, the sunscreen contains such tiny particles under 100 nanometers according to the EU Cosmetics Regulation.
Conclusion
At myrto, we prefer a purely herbal UV sunscreen for daily use based on organic karanja oil in combination with powerful antioxidants against damaging infrared radiation. If you want to strengthen the plant-based sun protection with powerful UVA protection, we recommend a product based on nano-free zinc oxide.
myrto will soon be offering a mineral sun protection booster to be applied as an additional layer over the herbal sunshine oil. With this booster, you can achieve a sun protection factor of SPF 50+ for particularly sensitive and stressed skin.
Currently myrto has a mineral sun protection booster based on nanoparticle-free zinc oxide under development, which can be applied as a layering in addition to our Sunshine Day Oils with herbal sun protection. With this booster you can achieve a higher sun protection with increased UVA protection if required.
