For the bottle in your bag, almost nothing yet. On 10 September 2026 the FDA formally removed PABA and trolamine salicylate from the list of permitted sunscreen actives, though neither was still in US products. In June it added bemotrizinol, the first new filter in more than 25 years. Twelve familiar filters are still waiting on safety data.
Sunscreen regulation moves slowly enough that most people never notice it moving at all. This year it moved twice in three months, and both headlines were accurate while leaving out the part that matters for what you actually buy. So here is what changed, what did not, and why the US list of filters looks so short next to Europe's.
Why does the FDA regulate sunscreen like a drug?
In the US, sunscreen is an over-the-counter drug, not a cosmetic. Its active ingredients have to appear on a list the FDA maintains, called the monograph, and each one is judged on whether it is "generally recognized as safe and effective", usually shortened to GRASE.
That is the reason for the gap with Europe, where sunscreen filters are regulated as cosmetic ingredients and new ones have been added steadily for decades. Several filters that European and Asian formulators have used for years simply could not be sold as sunscreen actives in the US. The June decision was the first time in more than a quarter of a century that the American list grew.
What is bemotrizinol?
Bemotrizinol is a chemical UV filter that absorbs both UVA and UVB. The FDA added it to the monograph in June 2026, permitted at up to 6 percent, for adults and children from six months old. In its announcement the agency pointed to decades of use in Europe and to low levels of absorption through the skin as part of its reasoning.
The practical consequence is that US formulators now have one more well-studied filter to build broad-spectrum protection with. It will take formulation and launch cycles before that shows up on shelves, so for now it is a name worth recognising on an ingredient list rather than a reason to throw anything away.
Is PABA still in sunscreen?
No, and it has not been for a long time. PABA, aminobenzoic acid, was one of the earliest sunscreen actives and fell out of use years ago. On 10 September 2026 the FDA issued a final order removing it, together with trolamine salicylate, from the monograph, stating that the risks associated with these ingredients in sunscreen outweigh their benefits.
The same notice says the agency is not aware of any sunscreen currently sold in the US that contains either one. So this is a formal closing of a door that manufacturers had already walked away from. Useful for the record, irrelevant to your bathroom cabinet.
Which sunscreen ingredients does the FDA consider safe?
This is the part the headlines tend to skip, and it is the one that explains most of the anxiety around sunscreen.
| Status | Ingredients |
|---|---|
| Recognised as safe and effective | Zinc oxide, titanium dioxide, and since June 2026 bemotrizinol |
| Removed, September 2026 | PABA, trolamine salicylate |
| More data requested | Avobenzone, oxybenzone, octinoxate, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate, ensulizole, cinoxate, dioxybenzone, meradimate, padimate O, sulisobenzone |
That third row contains most of the chemical filters in most American sunscreens. It is very easy to read "not recognised as safe" as "unsafe", and the FDA is explicit that this is not what it means. Its own guidance says the proposal to classify these twelve as needing more data does not represent a conclusion that they are unsafe. It means the dossier is incomplete by current standards.
Are chemical sunscreens absorbed into the bloodstream?
Some of them, measurably. The study behind most of the headlines is Matta and colleagues in JAMA, 2020. Forty-eight adults applied sunscreen at the test amount of 2 milligrams per square centimetre to about three quarters of the body, repeatedly, over several days. All six filters tested, avobenzone, oxybenzone, octocrylene, homosalate, octisalate and octinoxate, reached blood concentrations above the threshold at which the FDA asks for further safety studies.
That threshold is a trigger for more investigation, not a line above which harm begins. The study showed absorption. It did not show damage, and the authors did not suggest people stop using sunscreen. That distinction is exactly why these twelve sit in the "more data" row rather than the "removed" one.
What should you actually do with this?
Keep using sunscreen. The FDA says so directly, and nothing in either decision changes the evidence that daily protection matters. What changes is how you can choose.
If you would rather stay within the ingredients with a settled status, mineral sunscreens based on zinc oxide or titanium dioxide are the straightforward option, and bemotrizinol will join them as products reach the US market. If a chemical sunscreen is the one you will actually wear every day, that is still a far better outcome than a mineral one you avoid because of the cast.
And whichever you choose, the variable that decides whether it works is the amount. Most people apply a fraction of the tested dose, which I went through in detail in how much sunscreen actually works. Where it sits in the routine matters too, and the entry on routine order explains why sunscreen is one of the few steps where sequence genuinely counts.
It is also worth separating this from a different conversation happening at the same time. Several US states now restrict intentionally added PFAS in personal care, and sunscreens fall inside those definitions. That is a question about additives in formulas, not about UV filters, and I have set out what the data shows in the entry on PFAS in makeup.
One last point, because it comes up every time sunscreen makes the news. Worry about an ingredient is a reasonable reason to switch formats. It is not a reason to go without, and I would rather you read an ingredient list carefully than decide that a product labelled natural must be the safer one by default.
Frequently asked
Is PABA still in sunscreen?
No. The FDA removed PABA and trolamine salicylate from its list of permitted sunscreen actives on 10 September 2026, concluding that their risks outweigh their benefits. The agency also stated it is not aware of any sunscreen currently sold in the US that contains either ingredient, so the order formalises a change the market had already made.
What is bemotrizinol?
Bemotrizinol is a UV filter that absorbs both UVA and UVB light. It has been used in Europe for decades and was added to the US sunscreen monograph in June 2026, at up to 6 percent, for adults and children from six months. It was the first new sunscreen active approved in the US in more than 25 years.
Are chemical sunscreens safe?
The FDA has asked for more safety data on twelve common chemical filters, including avobenzone and oxybenzone, and says this is not a finding that they are unsafe. Some are absorbed into the blood at measurable levels, which is why more studies were requested. The agency still recommends daily sunscreen use.
