Data report
Korean sunscreen filters vs. the US FDA list
Which UV filters actually show up in the sunscreens we've decoded — and how many aren't on the FDA's approved list. Counted live from real labels, not a claim about safety.
Last computed — every figure on this page is counted live from our decoded catalog, so it changes as coverage grows.
Not a safety verdict
A UV filter missing from the FDA's list is not the FDA saying it's unsafe — it almost always means the filter simply hasn't been reviewed and added to the US OTC sunscreen monograph yet. Many of the filters below have been approved and widely used in Korea and the EU for years or decades. This is regulatory-process data, not a warning label.
The US FDA maintains a fixed list of active ingredients any sunscreen sold as an over-the-counter (OTC) drug in the US may use — 21 CFR 352.10. That list sat at 16 ingredients and went unchanged from 1999 until June 2026, when the FDA added its first new filter in over 25 years (bemotrizinol — more below). Korea and the EU have kept approving newer filters that whole time. Below is what that gap looks like in the sunscreens we've actually decoded.
of 603 decoded sunscreens use ≥1 UV filter not on the FDA's list
sunscreen labels decoded so far
distinct non-FDA filters found among them
Quotable stats
Each line is self-contained and cites the source (us, for the catalog figures) — lift any one of them.
54% of 603 decoded sunscreens list at least one UV filter that is not on the FDA's OTC sunscreen monograph list (beautydew labs, 2026)
Shop sunscreens →88% of 603 decoded sunscreens list at least one FDA-listed UV filter (beautydew labs, 2026)
44% of decoded sunscreens list Ethylhexyl triazone (Ethylhexyl Triazone), the most common non-FDA UV filter in the decoded set (beautydew labs, 2026)
42% of decoded sunscreens list DHHB (Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate), a UV filter not on the FDA's OTC sunscreen monograph list (beautydew labs, 2026)
10% of decoded sunscreens list Ecamsule (Terephthalylidene Dicamphor Sulfonic Acid), a UV filter not on the FDA's OTC sunscreen monograph list (beautydew labs, 2026)
9% of decoded sunscreens list Bisoctrizole (Methylene Bis-Benzotriazolyl Tetramethylbutylphenol), a UV filter not on the FDA's OTC sunscreen monograph list (beautydew labs, 2026)
1% of decoded sunscreens list Tris-biphenyl triazine (Tris-Biphenyl Triazine), a UV filter not on the FDA's OTC sunscreen monograph list (beautydew labs, 2026)
Decoded products with a non-FDA filter
Most-popular decoded products whose label lists a UV filter not on the FDA's 352.10 list, most popular first.
- [Biodance] Invisible Collagen Peptide Sun Fluid SPF 50+ PA++++ 50ml
BIODANCE · Korean · carries DHHB, Ecamsule, Ethylhexyl triazone
- [FREBITS] Air Fit Sun Stick SPF 50+ PA++++ 14g
Ckd · unknown-origin · carries Ethylhexyl triazone
- [THANKYOU FARMER] Sun Project Silky Calming Sun Stick SPF50+ PA++++ 14g
Thank You Farmer · unknown-origin · carries DHHB, Ethylhexyl triazone
- Biodance Invisible Collagen Peptide Sun Fluid SPF50+ PA++++ 50ml
BIODANCE · Korean · carries DHHB, Ecamsule, Ethylhexyl triazone
- MEDIHEAL Tea Tree Soothing Sun Cream 50ml (SPF 50+ PA++++)
Mediheal · Korean · carries DHHB, Ethylhexyl triazone
- Mixsoon Bean Sun Serum SPF50+ PA++++ 50ml x 2ea
Mixsoon · Korean · carries Bisoctrizole
- Torriden DIVE-IN Moisture Sun Cream SPF 50+ PA++++ (60ml / 2.03 fl oz)
Torriden · Korean · carries Bisoctrizole, DHHB, Ethylhexyl triazone
- [Sooryehan] Fermented Hyoyun Collagen Blemish Care Sun Cream 50ml
Sooryehan · unknown-origin · carries Ecamsule
By filter, in our decoded catalog
Every matched UV filter present in the decoded sunscreens above, most common first.
| Filter | On FDA list? | Decoded sunscreens | Share |
|---|---|---|---|
| Octisalate | Yes | 334 | 55% |
| Ethylhexyl triazone | No | 268 | 44% |
| DHHB | No | 253 | 42% |
| Bemotrizinol | Yes | 223 | 37% |
| Titanium dioxide | Yes | 182 | 30% |
| Avobenzone | Yes | 135 | 22% |
| Zinc oxide | Yes | 126 | 21% |
| Octocrylene | Yes | 107 | 18% |
| Ensulizole | Yes | 84 | 14% |
| Octinoxate | Yes | 83 | 14% |
| Homosalate | Yes | 82 | 14% |
| Ecamsule | No | 60 | 10% |
| Bisoctrizole | No | 54 | 9% |
| Oxybenzone | Yes | 6 | 1% |
| Tris-biphenyl triazine | No | 4 | 1% |
Why your US-bought version can feel different
A sunscreen sold in the US as an OTC drug can only use actives on the FDA's list — there is no version of “just import the Korean formula.” So a US-market bottle of a Korean sunscreen brand is either reformulated around FDA-listed actives (avobenzone, octinoxate, octisalate, octocrylene, homosalate, oxybenzone, zinc oxide, titanium dioxide — the workhorse combinations), or, in one narrow case, built around a filter the FDA cleared through a one-off New Drug Application rather than the general monograph: ecamsule reached the US market in 2006 only inside a specific L'Oréal formulation (Anthelios SX), not as an ingredient any brand can add.
That combination — a filter list frozen since 1999, plus a narrow, product-specific exception process — is why the newer, often more cosmetically elegant filters common in Korean and EU sunscreens (bisoctrizole/Tinosorb M, DHHB, ethylhexyl triazone, tris-biphenyl triazine) can't simply be added to a US-market bottle. On June 10, 2026 the FDA finalized its first change to that list in over 25 years, adding bemotrizinol (already sold for years abroad as Tinosorb S) at up to 6% — a real crack in the freeze, but still one filter out of the several the rest of the world has approved.
The two lists
The FDA's 17 approved OTC sunscreen actives (21 CFR 352.10 plus bemotrizinol), and the 5 modern non-FDA filters this report tracks.
| Filter | INCI name | On FDA list? | Max concentration |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aminobenzoic acid (PABA) | PABA | Yes | 15% |
| Avobenzone | Avobenzone | Yes | 3% |
| Cinoxate | Cinoxate | Yes | 3% |
| Dioxybenzone | Dioxybenzone | Yes | 3% |
| Homosalate | Homosalate | Yes | 15% |
| Menthyl anthranilate (Meradimate) | Menthyl Anthranilate | Yes | 5% |
| Octocrylene | Octocrylene | Yes | 10% |
| Octinoxate | Ethylhexyl Methoxycinnamate | Yes | 7.5% |
| Octisalate | Ethylhexyl Salicylate | Yes | 5% |
| Oxybenzone | Benzophenone-3 | Yes | 6% |
| Padimate O | Ethylhexyl Dimethyl PABA | Yes | 8% |
| Ensulizole | Phenylbenzimidazole Sulfonic Acid | Yes | 4% |
| Sulisobenzone | Benzophenone-4 | Yes | 10% |
| Trolamine salicylate | Trolamine Salicylate | Yes | 12% |
| Titanium dioxide | Titanium Dioxide | Yes | 25% |
| Zinc oxide | Zinc Oxide | Yes | 25% |
| Bemotrizinol | Bis-Ethylhexyloxyphenol Methoxyphenyl Triazine | Yes | 6% |
| Bisoctrizole | Methylene Bis-Benzotriazolyl Tetramethylbutylphenol | No | 10% (EU) |
| DHHB | Diethylamino Hydroxybenzoyl Hexyl Benzoate | No | 10% (EU) |
| Ethylhexyl triazone | Ethylhexyl Triazone | No | 5% (worldwide ex-US/Canada) |
| Ecamsule | Terephthalylidene Dicamphor Sulfonic Acid | No | 3% (NDA-specific) |
| Tris-biphenyl triazine | Tris-Biphenyl Triazine | No | 10% (EU) |
Sources: 21 CFR 352.10; FDA final order adding bemotrizinol (June 10, 2026); Turner & Torgerson, Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine (2025). Full per-filter citations (CosIng/manufacturer technical data for the non-FDA filters) are in lib/sunscreen-filters.ts.