True or False: The last time a new ingredient was approved and added to sunscreen was 15 years ago.
Answer: True.
This fact might be okay if there weren’t ingredients waiting to be added to sunscreens, but there are eight sunscreen ingredients pending that can save our lives and prevent our loved ones from getting skin cancer.
We will never know … or will we? Due to rising skin cancer numbers and stagnant sunscreen innovation, a bill has come to form.
A bipartisan bill called “The Sunscreen Innovation Act” will allow for these ingredients to be brought to the table and reviewed in a timely manner by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). One ingredient has been pending to be approved for 12 years!
If the FDA fails to have a verdict on the ingredient, then an advisory council will decide the fate of the ingredient. This act will also shed light on the FDA’s approval process by requiring it to check in with Congress on the status of undecided ingredients. Many of the pending ingredients are safely being used in Asia, Canada, South America and Europe, but not here because the FDA has not gotten around to approving — let alone even looking at — them.
“It’s important for people to protect themselves from the sun and Americans shouldn’t have to wait decades for access to the most advanced, effective sunscreens,” says U.S. Senator Jack Reed (D-RI), a sponsor of the bill, in a press release.
We’ve seen what happens when innovation is able to ride freely: thick foundations become sheer, BB creams turn into DD creams, and thick, white sunscreen transforms into clear spray-on.
Innovation breeds even more innovation and research. With this bill, we can see a rise of new ingredients in our sunscreens that can help prevent skin cancer. An advisor to the Public Access to SunScreens Coalition, Michael Werner, is hoping that the bill will pass in the upcoming months, so keep your eye out for a possible new batch of sunscreens next summer!
In the meantime, stay safe this summer and don’t forget to use your sunscreen!