Why your sunscreen is finally getting a major upgrade
Jun 12, 2026•10 min
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Episode description
Until this week, the United States hadn’t approved a new sunscreen ingredient in over 20 years. That changed Tuesday, when the FDA approved a new chemical for U.S. sunscreens. It’s called bemotrizinol, and NPR science correspondent Maria Godoy joins us to tell us all about it — including the soonest it’s expected to hit shelves.
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CORRECTION: A previous version of this episode incorrectly referred to Dr. Heather Rogers as a spokesperson for the American Academy of Dermatology. She is a fellow of the academy.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
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Interested in more science news? Email us your question at shortwave@npr.org.
Listen to every episode of Short Wave sponsor-free and support our work at NPR by signing up for Short Wave+ at plus.npr.org/shortwave.
CORRECTION: A previous version of this episode incorrectly referred to Dr. Heather Rogers as a spokesperson for the American Academy of Dermatology. She is a fellow of the academy.
See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for sponsorship and to manage your podcast sponsorship preferences.
NPR Privacy Policy
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