Dr. Olasz Harken's take on the newly approved sunscreen filter bemotri

by Aliz Savay Kellerman
October 06, 2026
3 min read

Here is my take on the newly approved sunscreen filter called bemotrizinol, or BMT, and why, in my opinion, it is not a miracle ingredient that will instantly transform American sunscreens.

I'm Dr. Edith Olasz Harken, board-certified dermatologist and founder of Harken Derm. There has been a ton of excitement about the recent approval of bemotrizinol in the U.S. It was approved in June.

My patients ask me about it all the time. I'm a little bit concerned that the buzz may lead people to think that BMT is some brand-new breakthrough ingredient. Well, it isn't.

But first of all, here are the good things.

BMT has been used safely for over 20 years in Europe, Australia, and many Asian countries. It has earned an excellent reputation because it is one of the most photostable, broad-spectrum UV filters available, providing protection both in the UVB and UVA range.

It is also a large molecule, so it is not absorbed into the bloodstream, which was a recent concern with our sunscreen filters. It is completely transparent, so it makes an elegant formula.

For years, we've had only one sunscreen filter with broad-spectrum coverage in the U.S., and that's our dermatologist's favorite: zinc oxide.

So, at first glance, BMT should be used similarly to zinc oxide, as a single filter in the sunscreen. But in practice, that almost never happens.

Why?

Well, it's big, yellow, and has weak far-UVA coverage.
It is a large, oil-soluble molecule, so to achieve a high SPF on its own, you'd have to dissolve large amounts into the oil phase, making the formulation increasingly difficult.

It also has an inherent yellow color, so at higher concentrations, it can give the sunscreen a noticeable yellow tint. Also, its coverage in the far-UVA range is limited, so it often has to be combined with a strong far-UVA filter.
For all these reasons, BMT is almost always used as part of a filter system, not as the only UV filter.

In Europe, it is commonly combined with second-generation, modern organic UV filters. But unfortunately, these are not approved in the United States, so they are not available.

So here's the crux of the matter.

In the U.S., BMT must be paired primarily with older organic UV filters like avobenzone and octocrylene, which aren't my favorite and have both been shown to be absorbed into the bloodstream. Or it can be combined with zinc oxide.

Sunscreen formulation is the holy grail of cosmetic chemistry. Only the best chefs can cook up excellent sunscreen. So now the American chefs finally have a fantastic ingredient imported from Europe. The problem is that some of our other ingredients still aren't the best, so the sunscreen still isn't perfect.

In my opinion, one of the most exciting applications is in hybrid sunscreens. BMT may allow formulators to use lower amounts of zinc oxide while maintaining excellent broad-spectrum protection, potentially reducing white cast and improving cosmetic elegance.