Does FDA Approval Mean End to Anti-Sunscreen Hysteria?
by Andrew Walden
Happy news for dermatologists and oncologists everywhere.
After decades of protectionist stalling, on June 9, 2026, the US Food and Drug Administration finally approved BASF’s ‘Bemotrizinol’ sunscreen formula which is marketed as Escalol S, Parsol Shield, and Tinosorb S.
BASF, one of Europe’s largest chemical manufacturers, celebrated the FDA decision with a news release:
“Tinosorb S represents decades of BASF innovation in photoprotection,” said Brandon Crist, Vice President, Business Management at BASF Personal Care Americas. “Following this FDA approval, we are proud to introduce this advanced UV filter to the U.S. market, providing formulators a new opportunity to deliver the high‑performance, broad‑spectrum sun protection that today’s consumers demand.”
Akamai readers may remember fake studies purporting to show that US sunscreen formulas were bad for reef corals. Some were quietly funded by interests tied to BASF.
The original point of the anti-sunscreen chemophobia campaign was to undermine the credibility of competing formulas. This enhanced the argument for Tinosorb to gain access to the multi-billion dollar US market.
Mission Creep
Will this be the end of bogus sunscreen studies?
That boils down to a simple calculation: Is anti-sunscreen chemophobia a marketing technique or a competitive technique?
The ‘competitive’ goal—BASF access to the US market-- has been achieved. But here in Hawaii, sunscreen manufacturers are teaming up with the usual tourism quacktivists to profit from the hysteria. They are part of the tourism industry and their goal is marketing and profit.
Here is a rundown:
Haereticus Environmental Laboratory (HEL), authors of the 2017 study used to push sunscreen bans in Hawaii and other touristy destinations, now operates the Protect Land + Sea (PL+S) certification program. It says certified products are laboratory-tested by HEL against the “HEL LIST”—a list of chemicals it claims are environmental threats. Certification lasts only two years, after which companies must recertify.
The Haereticus PL&S webpage is easy to debunk:
In 2017, HEL conducted a study at the iconic snorkeling spot, Hanauma Bay in Hawaii and found that nearly 2,600 average daily visitors left around 412 pounds of sunscreen in the ocean. Osybenzone (sic) and octinoxate, ingredients found in most sunscreens break down coral by leaching it of nutrients and disrupt the development of fish and marine life.
The damaging effects of sunscreen can occur in concentrations as low as 62 parts per trillion. This is equivalent to one drop of oxybenzone in six Olympic-sized swimming pools. Imagine what 412 pounds of sunscreen is doing to this coral reef haven.
DO THE MATH: 412lbs/2,600 tourists = 2.5oz weight per tourist. This is the weight of a normal tube of sunscreen that might last a user months before running out. In addition to the unrealistic scenario of dumping 2,600 tubes of sunscreen into the bay every day, most of that 2.5oz is inert ingredients. The FDA maximum concentrations of the allegedly harmful oxybenzone and octinoxate comprise 6% and 7.5% respectively. If every drop of the 2.5oz each tourist allegedly squirts into Haunama Bay daily were at the combined maximum allowable dose for both, then the total amount would be 55.6 lbs, not 412 lbs. But, of course, it is nobody, not everybody, that squirts an entire tube of sunscreen into Hanauma Bay. These are the typical ‘errors’ of quacktivist ‘science.’
Here are some of the brands marketing off HEL’s Protect Land + Sea Certification:
Pointing to HEL’s ‘research’, Badger pushes legislation to exclude competitors. In its May, 2022 testimony to the Hawaii County Council, Badger urged adoption of an ordinance that would allow only mineral sunscreens to be sold or distributed in Hawaii County.
The risk in continued use of chemophobia as a marketing technique is that consumers have no idea which formula is which. Further studies may serve only to suppress consumer demand. Increasing skin cancer rates would be collateral damage. How long will it take for lawyers to wise up and start blaming clients’ skin cancers on anti-sunscreen rhetoric? Could this be spun into a new ‘tobacco settlement’? Sunscreen is a multi-billion dollar industry.
Applied chemophobia should be taught in business school. If more learn how to exploit chemophobia for profit, perhaps fewer would be fooled by it.
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NYT June 9 2026: F.D.A. Clears Sunscreen Ingredient Long Used in Europe and Asia - The New York Times
BASF June 12, 2026: Bemotrizinol, marketed by BASF as Tinosorb S, receives regulatory approval in the United States as the first new sunscreen active ingredient approved by the FDA since 1999