Bemotrizinol & Bisoctrizole: The EU Filters at the Heart of the 2025 US Debate
These are the filters that make EU sunscreens feel weightless and protect deep into UVA, and 2025's modernization debate is about finally bringing them to the US.
Bemotrizinol (Tinosorb S) is approved in the EU as a broad-spectrum UV filter at concentrations up to 10% under Annex VI of the EU Cosmetics Regulation, and a 2025 PMC review on modernizing US sunscreen regulation argues such newer filters would improve UVA protection and public health if approved stateside.
Reviewers in the 2025 modernization literature argue that the US lags behind the EU on UVA-protective filters, and that adding newer, photostable options to the monograph could close a real public-health gap.
Questions we get a lot
What are bemotrizinol and bisoctrizole?
Bemotrizinol (trade name Tinosorb S) and bisoctrizole (Tinosorb M) are modern, photostable UV filters widely used in EU sunscreens. Bemotrizinol is approved in the EU up to 10% under Annex VI and provides broad-spectrum coverage, while bisoctrizole is a hybrid filter prized for UVA protection. Both help EU formulas feel lightweight while protecting deep into the UVA range.
Why aren't these filters in US sunscreens?
The US regulates sunscreen actives through an OTC monograph process that has been slow to add new filters, so options long available in the EU have not been approved stateside. A 2025 PMC review argues that modernizing this process to include newer filters would improve UVA protection and public health. The debate over closing that gap intensified in 2025.
Are EU sunscreens with these filters better for UVA?
Filters like bemotrizinol and bisoctrizole are specifically valued for strong, stable UVA protection, and the EU has permitted them for years. The 2025 modernization review frames their absence in the US as a meaningful UVA-protection shortfall. That said, well-formulated US broad-spectrum sunscreens still provide UVA coverage with the filters currently approved.
r/SkincareAddiction: 'Why do European sunscreens feel so much nicer than American ones? Is it really just these Tinosorb filters?'