Over 80% of sunscreen performed below their labelled efficacy (2020)

Today's sunscreens are complex cocktails of different molecules. The most advanced and efficient ones use both, inorganic and organic, chemicals, e.g.:

  Zinc oxide – for the broadest UV-A and UV-B absorption.

  Titanium dioxide – for UV-A absorption.

  Diethylamino hydroxybenzoyl hexyl benzoate (DHHB) – for UV-A absorption.

  Octyl methoxycinnamate – for UV-B absorption.

  Octocrylene – for short-wave UV-A and UV-B absorption.

  Bemotrizinol – a broad-spectrum UV absorber, absorbing both UV-A and UV-B rays.

  Octyl triazone (ethylhexyl triazone) – for UV-B absorption.

The actual composition varies, but it is going to have a combination of multiple compounds due to them having different absorption peaks, e.g. bemotrizinol has two absorption peaks, 310 and 340 nm, and DHHB peaks out at 354 nm.. The compounds also have synergistic effects when blended with one another, so the sunscreen design is a science on its own.