Other countries have better sunscreens. Here's why we can't get them in the U.S.

MAY 18, 2024 7:01 AM ET
FROM KFF Health News
By Michael Scaturro


[...]

In countries such as Japan, South Korea, and France, sunscreens include newer chemical filters, some of which have been shown to provide broader protection against UV rays than those used in the U.S.

The Food and Drug Administration's ability to approve such ingredients is hamstrung by a 1938 U.S. law that has required sunscreens to be tested on animals and classified as drugs, rather than as cosmetics as they are in much of the world.

So Americans are not likely to get those other sunscreens — which do a better job of blocking UVA rays that can cause skin cancer and lead to wrinkles — in time for this summer, or even the next.

Sunscreen makers say the U.S. approval standards are unfair because companies, including BASF Corp. and L'Oréal which make the newer sunscreen chemicals, submitted safety data on sunscreen chemicals to the European Union authorities some 20 years ago.

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