[emptybits]

Bemotrizinol is the ingredient being discussed.

If you're looking for a specific product to try, check out Ombrelle and also La Roche-Posay's Anthelios line. I share this as a Canadian (bemotrizinol has been available here for years), but check the ingredients because it may vary by country because of regulations.

Aside: I did a bunch of sunscreen research some time ago for my family. I like the non-absorbing/non-reactive aspect of mineral screens but settled on a chemical screen and bemotrizinol seemed favoured but we landed instead on the Kinesys brand of sprays which we love because they're very waterproof and sweatproof in our experience but they feel like almost nothing. YMMV.

[culi]

Synthesized from hydroxyphenyl-triazines (HPTs). HPTs were invented to protect materials like automotive paints, aerospace coatings, and heavy-duty plastics from solar degradation.

It doesn't seem to bioaccumulate in marine organisms despite the fact that it doesn't biodegrade. This seems to be due to the sheer size of the compound making it not easily cross the biological membranes. It does however accumulate on lake and ocean bed sediments so there are still some long term concerns.

Overall it's environmental profile seems like a huge step up from previous classes of sunscreen chemicals but it's not perfect either.

[Grombobulous]

Sadly, you’ll have to wait for those brands in the US.

> DSM-Firmenich has exclusive rights to market bemotrizinol in the U.S. for 18 months. It will be sold under the brand name Parsol Shield.

[y-curious]

Well, you could have and still can buy them shipped from other countries on sites like eBay. Shame it has to come to this in the land of the free, however.

[Grombobulous]

I guess I’m unsure if the FDA approval makes importing these legal.

I also imagine that it’s not really worth doing just to get a specific brand in terms of cost.

An 18-month exclusive period is annoying but not the end of the world.

[picofarad]

Tpu were free to bid competitively to have exclusive rights for your company. What's the problem?

[jzig]

Thank you for sharing your experience. Any idea If I search for Kinesys spray product on the American Amazon site will it be the same? What are the active ingredients?

[emptybits]

Dunno. Brands definitely change their ingredients to conform to national health/drug regs so I’d inquire via their US site. kinesysactive.com

[brynnbee]

Anthelios line still contains homosalate in a concentration 20x higher than recommended by EU. I do like that brand a lot though.

[chadcmulligan]

+1 for La Roche - my daughter has fair sensitive skin and burns easily, its the best she finds (in Australia)

[emeril]

why not just get the least obtrusive physical sunscreen like "clear" thinksport?

My fear is that all of these chemical based ones increase the rates of disease in susceptible populations which is hard to detect

[culi]

The large physical size of the compound means it has trouble passing through biological membranes. This is why it has really low toxicity and doesn't bioaccumulate despite the fact that it doesn't biodegrade over time.

It does seem to accumulate on lake and ocean floors though. I think the larger concern is not on human or animal health but on long term ecological consequences which are harder to study