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“I love this sun cream and wouldn’t use anything else. It feels nice on the skin and kept me well protected. For me it’s a bonus that I know when I’m swimming in the sea that the ingredients are safe for the fish and sea life. Highly recommend it”
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“This was a free gift with another purchase. Not happy with ingredient nano titanium dioxide as the research suggests it can be absorbed through the skin. Non-nano would be better. I will not be using this product. Also wish Green People would get rid of their plastic packaging altogether.”
Thank you for your review.
The titanium dioxide that we use is classed as nano-particulate as the individual particles are between 40nm and 80nm in size. Manufacturers use micronised or nano-titanium dioxide in sun lotions because it offers effective protection against UVA rays, the type of radiation that penetrates the skin and which is a leading cause of skin cancers including basal cell carcinoma and melanoma. The only other way of offering the same level of UVA protection would be to use synthetic chemical sun filters that have been shown to have harmful effects including the ability to mimic hormones in the body.
The concerns over titanium dioxide nanoparticles are two-fold - firstly that due to their greater surface area they have an increased ability to react with other molecules, particularly oxygen, and secondly that they may enter the body through the skin and thereby reach internal organs where they may cause damage due to their increased reactivity.
To counter these two potential problems, the manufacturers of titanium dioxide UV filters in cosmetics treat the minerals during production by coating each particle with a very fine layer of silicates - effectively they coat it in glass. This treatment has the effect of shielding the titanium dioxide from contact with other materials, including oxygen. This lack of contact prevents any potential reactions from taking place, and renders the mineral absolutely inert. It is therefore incapable of causing oxidative damage, the first of the two concerns.
Secondly, when nano-particles are incorporated into a cream or lotion they clump together, forming aggregations. These are held together by forces of molecular attraction that prevent the primary particles from becoming separated when applied to the skin. Therefore, although the primary particle size of the minerals is in theory small enough to be absorbed through the skin, in practice the aggregations that are formed in creams and lotions are too large to cross through the skin-blood barrier. Instead, they remain on the surface of the skin where they reflect and scatter UV light.
We share many people’s concerns over the advances being made in nano-technology, particularly in the creation of novel molecules such nano-spheres and nano-tubes. However, nano-particulate Titanium dioxide obtained by micro-fine grinding of the mineral has been safely used as a UV filter in cosmetics for over 30 years and there is a wealth of evidence to support that safety.
We have been aware of the need to reduce the quantity of plastics used in packaging for many years. In fact, the plastic tubes that we use have been gradually reducing in thickness and weight over the years and the ones we currently use are significantly lighter than those we were using 10 or 15 years ago.
The airless bottles and pumps that we use for most of our creams and lotions enable us to use lower levels of preservatives than we have to use if we packed the same products into tubes or jars. Preservatives, by their very nature, have varying degrees of toxicity and many of the more powerful types have negative impacts on the environment. By avoiding the use of these more powerful preservatives we are minimising the environmental impact of our products.
We have investigated the availability and suitability of alternative sources of plastics for our packaging and continue to do so. We are currently looking at sugarcane to be a promising alternative, this has already been rolled out in a few of our products and possibly all of them, eventually.
For the time being, please bear in mind that with the exception of our toothpastes and sachets, all of the packaging we currently use is readily recyclable and there is no reason for it ever to go into landfill.
In summary we are well aware of the issues surrounding plastic packaging and we will continue our search for suitable alternatives.
How likely are you to recommend this product to a friend?
Did you find this product suitable for sensitive skin?
What is the age of the user of this product?
What hair type or concern was this product purchased for?
What skin type or concern was this product purchased for?
“I have extremely pale skin that burns easily so I was apprehensive about spf15 I shouldn’t have been. I developed more colour than I ever have before and with no burn. Did keep reapplying but product is a pleasure to use so an excellent solution for me”
