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Chapter 1: What is the main topic discussed in this episode?
Hey, it's Flora, and you're listening to Science Friday. The FDA recently approved a sunscreen ingredient that's been used in Europe and Asia for years. It's called Bematrizinol, also known as BEMT. And this is a big deal because it's the first new sunscreen ingredient approved in the U.S. in over two decades. Meanwhile, skin cancer has become the most common cancer in the U.S.,
Chapter 2: What sunscreen ingredient did the FDA recently approve?
Here to get into the chemistry of sunblock is AJ Aday, a chemistry PhD candidate studying sunscreen at UCLA. She's also the founder of Sula Labs, which tests sunscreen and other cosmetics formulations. AJ, welcome to Science Friday. Thank you for having me. I'm excited to chat. Me too. Is this approval big news in your world?
Oh, for sure. I think over two decades, as you said, has been the last time that there's been a UV filter approval in the United States.
Chapter 3: Why is bemotrizinol significant for sunscreen users?
So this fundamentally changes the landscape a bit.
Well, how is B-metrizanol different from other sunscreen ingredients?
Yeah, so BEMT is actually the first UV filter that has been approved that is an organic UV filter that is generally recognized as safe and effective. So I say organic very intentionally because there are two UV filter classes that are allowed in the United States in organic UV filters. So that would be zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. And then there are organic UV filters.
And those are ones like homosalate, octisalate, oxybenzone, avobenzone. So BEMT would fall under the organic class. And it would be the first and only one that contains this generally recognized as safe and effective status.
Does this new ingredient feel different, look different, go on differently?
So it definitely has an advantage over zinc oxide and titanium dioxide. in that it goes on the skin a little bit more transparently than you would expect from inorganic filters. So that's a great advantage. But I would say the biggest advantage is actually in how efficiently it protects the skin from harmful UV damage. Say more.
Yeah, so there are a lot of UV filters already allowed in the United States, but a lot of them really skew towards UVB protection, which is useful because sun protection factor really narrowly measures the ability for a sunscreen to protect you from UVB rays.
What's great about BEMT is that it actually very efficiently absorbs both UVB and UVA rays, which would make it more of a broad-spectrum filter. And that's exciting because typically you have to combine several different UV filters and sunscreens to get a broad spectrum claim. Whereas with BEMT, you can do so a little bit more efficiently without taking up so much of the sunscreen's real estate.
Now, the only other UV filter that does absorb broad spectrum is abobenzone allowed in the United States. But the thing about abobenzone is that it does require other UV filters to stabilize it. So this is really the most efficient UV filter as far as that. And what's the difference between UVA and UVB light?
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Chapter 4: How does bemotrizinol differ from other sunscreen ingredients?
I love your gusto for this subject.
Yeah, I mean, like you said, I'm a PhD candidate. And, you know, this is my field of work. So thank you. This is your actual thesis. Yeah, quite literally. Sunscreen, white cast, biological interactions. Like this is I could go on forever. Yeah.
It's really fascinating. Thank you, AJ. No problem. Thank you for having me. AJ Aday, a chemistry PhD candidate studying sunscreen at UCLA. Given the benefits of BEMT and that it's been used across the world for many, many years, why didn't the FDA approve it sooner? And what does this sunscreen tale tell us about FDA approvals and how our system for regulating drugs works?
Here with some answers is health journalist Michael Scaturo, who's been following sunscreen formulations and regulation for years and most recently wrote about it for KFF News. Michael, thanks for being here.
Thanks for having me.
So why did it take so long to get this ingredient approved?
I think the main reason is that it's expensive to bring a new drug through the FDA because in the United States, sunscreen chemicals are considered over-the-counter drugs. In France or in Korea or in many places around the world, sunscreens and sunscreen chemicals are considered cosmetics. And so they don't really have to be subjected to animal tests.
But in the US, the FDA defines sunscreen as an OTC, an over-the-counter drug, which is kind of like aspirin or cough syrup or anything that you might buy, like a Walgreens or a CVS. And those are things that have to go through, traditionally, an animal testing process. So DSM, the company that manufactures this chemical, had to submit that data. And so that's hard, right?
Because it's very expensive. It costs them about $18 million to bring this product. new chemical through the FDA. And Congress has tried in like two laws now to sort of nudge the FDA in the direction of alternative testing methods. And they're not quite convinced because for this new-ish, right, this new for us in the U.S. but widely used globally, this EMT was still subjected to animal tests.
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Chapter 5: What advantages does bemotrizinol offer in terms of application?
How does this story fit in with that?
I think the sunscreen controversy kind of started in 2019, around then, because the FDA did tests on several sunscreen ingredients that have been sold for a while, have been considered to be safe to be in sunscreens. But they basically found that in some... certain chemicals were appearing in very, very small amounts in the human bloodstream.
And I think they reclassified these drugs as, and it's very complicated, not grasse, so it's like not generally recognized as safe and effective for use in sunscreens. So it's a really complicated way of saying that they needed more data to know whether these chemicals were safe. They were not necessarily saying...
they're not safe they were just saying we would like more data because we don't really know and it um and it made people really wonder like well can they trust these things so there were there were about 12 chemicals that were that were in this that were moved into this not cross a so not considered not generally recognized as safe and effective for use in sunscreens category but
The industry has begun to, has over the last few years, phased out those chemicals, but essentially four are still widely used in sunscreen. So it's just to say it's very complicated. The FDA, they've let these chemicals exist in a kind of gray area because they said, again, they're not generally recognized as safe and effective for use in sunscreens. but you can still use them.
Okay, that's what I needed.
And that's very confusing.
It is a gray area.
Right, and I'll say this. If you look at this, I'm in Germany right now, and I purchased this sunscreen, and on the front of the packaging of this sunscreen, it says this is free of microplastic, it's free of octinosate, It doesn't have homosalate because it's no longer used in Europe.
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