: [POST-BROADCAST CORRECTION June 12, 2026: This story incorrectly refers to Dr. Heather Rogers as a spokesperson for the American Academy of Dermatology. She is a fellow of the academy.]
LEILA FADEL, HOST:
The Food and Drug Administration has approved a new sunscreen ingredient for the first time in decades. NPR health correspondent Maria Godoy reports.
MARIA GODOY, BYLINE: Bemotrizinol has long been used as an active ingredient in sunscreen sold in Europe and Asia. And for the last 20 years, a company called DSM Nutritional Products, LLC has been trying to get it approved as an ingredient here in the U.S. This week, that finally happened.
HEATHER ROGERS: This is a very big deal.
GODOY: That's Dr. Heather Rogers, a dermatologist in Seattle and a spokesperson for the American Academy of Dermatology.
ROGERS: It hits, like, really every box for us that we have been waiting for as dermatologists and consumers.
GODOY: She says, unlike the other chemical UV filters used in sunscreens in the U.S., Bemotrizinol actually protects against both UVA rays, which cause premature aging, and UVB rays, which cause sunburns. It also breaks down more slowly when exposed to the sun, and its molecules are larger, meaning it's absorbed less into the bloodstream.
ROGERS: We have 20 years of studies on it from it being used globally with a really, really good safety profile.
GODOY: That's important because in recent years, there's been a backlash against sunscreen on social media - prompted by concerns that other chemical sunscreen ingredients can be more readily absorbed in the blood. Rogers has been alarmed by this trend because skin cancer is the most common form of cancer.
ROGERS: We just need to have sunscreen that people will use, that we'll trust, and this ingredient is going to allow that to happen.
GODOY: Kelly Dobos is a cosmetic chemist who teaches at the University of Cincinnati. She says the new ingredient is likely to lead to sunscreens that are less greasy and look better on your skin.
KELLY DOBOS: I think it's a real win for public health if we can make a sunscreen that consumers like to use and want to use and, you know, apply in the proper amounts. I think that's something that's really going to be a win for consumers.
GODOY: Products containing this ingredient should be on store shelves in the coming months. Maria Godoy, NPR News.
(SOUNDBITE OF SONG, "HERE COMES THE SUN")
THE BEATLES: (Singing) Sun, sun, sun, here it comes. Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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