Sunscreen Active Ingredients
Sunscreens are regulated as drugs by the FDA because they contain active ingredients. As of today, there are 17 sunscreen active ingredients approved by the FDA in the U.S. If you’re in Europe, you have a few more choices that haven’t been approved here, e.g. Mexoryl XL, Tinosorb S, Tinosorb M.
Active ingredients are classified into 2 categories:
- Physical filters
- Chemical filters
They have different mechanisms of action, which are covered in the next section.