FDA Approved First New Sunscreen Ingredient Since 1999

You no longer have to haul French sunscreens home from your vacation — or pay exorbitant shipping fees — to get your hands on the good stuff.

The FDA just approved bemotrizinol (BEMT), an ingredient used in European and Asian sunscreens for over 20 years. It’s the first upgrade to US sunscreen this century.

BEMT is a chemical UV filter that absorbs both UVA and UVB rays, and doesn’t break down easily when exposed to sunlight, making it more effective at protecting against skin cancer and preventing wrinkles.

Due to regulatory differences, the US’s sunscreen formulas have remained notoriously old-fashioned, lagging behind other countries like the UK, South Korea, Japan, and Australia, which have been proactive in approving new, advanced UV-blocking ingredients.

As a result, sunscreens sold in these countries offer better protection against both UVA and UVB rays while also providing smoother application.

That’s about to change — but consumers will have to wait over a year to get their hands on these new and improved American products.

The biggest FDA filter update since 1999

The FDA treats sunscreens as non-prescription drugs — meaning each ingredient has to go through a lengthy regulatory approval process. While this sounds good in theory, it’s led to slow-moving sunscreen advancement; the FDA hasn’t approved a new UV-blocking filter in decades.

It’s not to say that US sunscreens are completely ineffective. According to Dr. Ellen Gendler, a dermatologist practicing in New York City, US sunscreens are “very good” at blocking UVB rays — the ones that cause sunburn.

However, she said we only have only one ingredient approved for UVA blockage: Avobenzone, which she described as “not very stable” and in need of other ingredients to make it effective. UVA rays are deeper-penetrating, which is why you can still get a tan while wearing US sunscreen — something Gendler noted might be “even more harmful to the skin” than the damage done by UVB rays, because UVA rays are known to cause skin cancer.

SPF also isn’t an indicator of protection against UVA. “I have patients use Neutrogena all the time, and they say, ‘I’m using an SPF 70’, and they’re still tan,” she said. “That’s because they’re not well protected against ultraviolet A.”

The search for a sleeker formula

Unlike in the US, sunscreens in other countries are classified as cosmetics and not non-prescription drugs, making them subject to more lax regulations and faster innovation.

Beyond being more effective at protecting the skin, they also cause less of a white cast and feel less greasy.

Gendler advises her patients to layer chemical and mineral sunscreens with zinc oxide for better protection — but even that “doesn’t afford them the same broad spectrum as the European products do.”

For example, her favorite international sunscreen is La Roche Posay’s SPF 50 Anthelios UVMune 400 sunscreen, which comes in multiple formulas such as “invisible” and “tinted.” It uses Mexoryl 400, an advanced version of Mexoryl, which has been considered one of the best UVA-blocking ingredients since 2005.

However, the FDA has only approved some forms of Mexoryl in limited formulas. That means La Roche Posay’s US versions of the same sunscreen don’t include Mexoryl. In the US, the only La Roche Posay product with Mexoryl is an SPF-15 moisturizer.

Bemotrizinol can make for stronger, smoother sunscreens

Besides offering more UV protection than some other sunscreen ingredients, bemotrizinol is also supposed to allow for a more seamless, streak-free application.

Still, it’ll take a while for new sunscreen formulas to include the ingredient. DSM Nutritional Products, which filed for FDA approval of bemotrizinol as a sunscreen ingredient in 2024, will have exclusive rights to sell their proprietary BEMT formulation in the US for 18 months, according to Vox. After that, other cosmetic companies will likely follow suit.

In the meantime, if you have a vacation abroad coming up, you can always leave some extra room in your luggage on your way back home. Or, you can always call in a favor.

“If your friends are going to Europe, instead of bringing you back a scarf, tell them to bring you back sunscreen,” Gendler said.