Med. Sonnengel LSF 50 hoch — ingredient safety report

• Allergy risk:Rising cause of contact and photoallergy, especially in children.
• Environmental impact:Accumulates in aquatic life; degrades into benzophenone over time.

A stabilizing UV filter that can degrade into benzophenone as products age, and an increasingly reported allergen — replace old tubes of octocrylene sunscreens.

• Allergy risk:Degradation products can cause photoallergy when unstabilized.

The main UVA filter in US sunscreens. Safe when properly stabilized, but it breaks down in sunlight into potentially sensitizing fragments in poorly formulated products.

• Cancer concern:IARC 2B by inhalation only — relevant to loose powders and sprays, not creams.

A mineral UV filter and pigment that is one of the safest sunscreen choices in cream form; the inhalation-based cancer classification only matters for powder and spray formats.

• Environmental impact:Synthetic polymer counted as a microplastic under the EU restriction when in particle form.

A common film-forming polymer scrutinized under the EU's microplastics restriction; skin safety itself is well established.

• Environmental impact:Not biodegradable; accumulates in the environment via wash-off.

The workhorse silicone — inert and non-sensitizing on skin (even FDA-approved as a skin protectant), with persistence in the environment as its main criticism.

• Environmental impact:Poorly biodegradable; can remobilize heavy metals in waterways.

A metal-binding stabilizer that is safe on skin at the tiny amounts used; its criticism is environmental persistence.