Protecting yourself from the sun’s rays is essential to prevent premature skin aging and cancer, yet this reflex is still not systematic. A new survey reveals that the French may well be aware of the risks involved, a significant portion of the population continues to not use sunscreen or not to use enough during prolonged exposure to the sun. Worse, many misconceptions persist about sun protection, especially about the toxicity of their ingredients.

Any prolonged exposure to the sun should inevitably be accompanied by adequate sun protection: suitable clothing and sun protection products. But do the French systematically adopt this gesture? Four in ten do not use, or little, cream when they are exposed for several hours in the sun, including 19% who say they completely ignore sun protection, indicates a survey conducted by OpinionWay for the Federation of Businesses of Beauty (FEBEA).

Recognized effectiveness

Almost three in ten men (27%) say they do not use any sun protection during these hours of exposure, more than their female counterparts. The same gap between the behavior of men and women has recently been noted in the United States.

Note that 30% of those over 65 do not use sunscreens when they are exposed to the sun, much more than the younger generations.

Paradoxically, if they do not protect themselves systematically, the French are aware that the sun’s rays are harmful to the skin. More than four in ten French people turn to sun protection to protect themselves from sunburn, and almost as many do so to protect themselves from certain health risks such as cancer. Good news, this figure has increased by 4 points in one year, indicating a significant awareness.

In addition, no less than 89% of respondents consider that sunscreens are effective against all the dangers associated with the sun.

Fears related to the safety of formulas

How to explain this contradiction between the awareness of the risks, the existence of protection products whose effectiveness is recognized and the persistence of an underuse of these products? Perhaps by a certain mistrust vis-à-vis the composition of these products.

Indeed, the French say they are suspicious of the formulas of these sun protections. More than three quarters (76%) of those questioned fear that they are developed from toxic products, and 86% believe that they are harmful to the environment.

Faced with studies that are sometimes alarming, but whose scientific community has not always had time to assess the contribution in terms of real risks for users, or with applications confusing the effects of a substance when it is ingested orally in food and when used on the skin, consumers are too often subjected, according to FEBEA , to fear marketing strategies.

Despite everything, a large majority of the panel (83%) recognizes that sunscreens are now safer, due to numerous advances, in terms of both efficiency and environmental protection.

The proven risk is the sun

The FEBEA recalls that sun filters are one of the categories of ingredients most controlled by European cosmetics regulations. Given their major role for health, the Scientific Committee for Consumer Safety (CSSC), an independent body attached to the European Commission, regularly checks in depth the efficacy and harmlessness of these substances.

“  On the one hand we have products that are subject to draconian controls to ensure their safety for health, an efficacy of products that is not debated, and on the other hand, we have a serious risk, proven, and noted by all doctors, which is the risk of cancer,  ”explains Emmanuel Guichard, General Delegate of FEBEA .

”  Faced with these perceptions of the French  “, adds Emmanuel Guichard , ”  cosmetic companies must continue their educational approaches on product safety for health and on everything that is put in place to limit their environmental impact (biodegradability of formulas, water resistance …). In addition, we must continue to remember that the risks associated with exposure to the sun, without protection, are fatal. The real danger is not protecting yourself!  “.

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