The result should reassure parents in particular: Most of the sunscreens tested by the Stiftung Warentest offer reliable UV protection – including some cheap products. 20 sunscreens were tested, including those from Nivea, Eucerin, Rossmann, Penny and Müller.
Creams, lotions and sprays with a high and very high sun protection factor (30, 50 and 50) were tested for issue 08/2022. Result: 16 products provide reliable protection against UV light, nine of which are very good overall. Four remedies are deficient because they do not provide the promised UV protection.
Among them were three out of four certified natural cosmetic products in the test – some of them significantly below the stated protection factor of 30 (UVB protection).
The testers discovered critical substances in two products: a gel-cream, for example, contains the UV filter homosalate. He is suspected of influencing the endocrine system. Comparatively high amounts of benzophenone could be detected in one spray.
It ends up in sunscreens as an impurity or by-product of the UV filter octocrylene. There is a suspicion that benzophenone could promote the development of cancer.
“Therefore, as a precaution, products containing octocrylene should only be used up to the best-before date printed on them. Because benzophenone is mainly formed during longer storage,” says Lea Lukas from Stiftung Warentest.
