Bemotrizinol is a large enough molecule, however, that it doesn’t absorb through the skin like avobenzone does, and it may lead the way to a better wearing experience, chemist Kelly Dobos recently told TIME. “With bemotrizinol, you can reduce the number of filters and reduce the total percentage of filters, and that helps you get to a more elegant feeling product,” she said.
That means it will be easier for people to protect themselves from the sun. “This is a great day for American consumers and everyone who has fought to improve sunscreen options,” said David Andrews, chief science officer at the Environmental Working Group, a nonprofit, in a statement. “For decades, Americans have used outdated sunscreen tech while the rest of the world moved forward. The approval of bemotrizinol will help change that.”
