Avobenzone

📋 Quick facts

Description: Avobenzone — chemical UV filter.

All Functions: chemical UV filter

Quick Facts:

• Category: sunscreen
• Comedogenic Rating: 0/5

Proven Benefits At A Glance:

• Avobenzone is an organic UV filter that works by absorbing ultraviolet radiation
• It’s approved for use in sunscreens at up to 3% concentration in the US and Canada
• A 2025 toxicity review found avobenzone has a suitable safety profile with low skin absorption (≤0.59% of applied dose)
• Avobenzone can break down when exposed to sunlight, which may reduce its protective power over time
• Photoallergy has been reported in some clinical cases, though avobenzone generally doesn’t cause skin irritation or sensitization
• Researchers are working on stabilizing avobenzone to improve its effectiveness

⚗️ Chemical Overview

Avobenzone is a member of dihydrochalcones. Avobenzone is dibenzoyl methane derivative. It is oil soluble ingredient. Avobenzone has the ability to absorb ultraviolet light over wider range of wavelengths. It is included in many commercially available sunscreens which are used as wide spectrum sunscreens. Avobenzone is very sensitive to light, to increase its stability and duration of action, photostablizers are added in the sunscreen product. Avobenzone has an absorption maximum of 357 nm. Sunscreens containing avobenzone is indicated for providing protection from the sun. In addition to limiting the skin’s exposure to the sun, using sunscreen agents may help reduce long-term sun damage such as premature aging of the skin and skin cancer. Avobenzone is a sunscreen blocker. Avobenzone is a topical, broad range UV protector and blocks UVA I, UVA II, and UVB wavelengths, thereby limiting the impact of UV rays on skin. (NCI05)

Source(s): NCI Thesaurus (NCIt), DrugBank, ChEBI, via PubChem

📊 Comedogenicity

0/5

🛡️ Safety rating

Safety tier is a starting heuristic from regulatory status and comedogenic rating, not a dermatological verdict — see our Terms for the full disclaimer. Research confidence reflects how many real cited studies back this ingredient, not the strength of their findings.

🤰 Pregnancy Safety Note

Chemical sunscreen. Limited pregnancy data. Mineral sunscreens preferred during pregnancy.

🌍 Regulatory Status

💧 Skin Type Compatibility

Derived from this ingredient’s irritancy potential and comedogenicity rating against the needs of each skin type — e.g. oily and acne-prone skin are marked down for pore-clogging ingredients, sensitive skin for irritants. A starting heuristic, not a dermatological verdict.

⚠️ Don’t Combine With

📚 Research & Evidence

🔬 The Science

Avobenzone is an organic ultraviolet filter—meaning it works differently from physical blockers like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Instead of scattering UV light, avobenzone #1: absorbs ultraviolet radiation and then releases that energy in different ways (Recent Pat Drug Deliv Formul, 2015). This absorption mechanism makes it effective, but it comes with a tradeoff. The main limitation of avobenzone is its photostability. When exposed to sunlight, avobenzone undergoes something called keto-enol tautomerism—a molecular rearrangement triggered by UV light—which causes it to break down (Pharmaceutics, 2023). As it degrades, #2: it loses UV-protective capacity during use, and this breakdown can sometimes produce compounds that trigger allergic or toxic reactions (Recent Pat Drug Deliv Formul, 2015).

Some clinical cases of photoallergy (allergic reactions triggered by the combination of a substance and sunlight) have been documented (Crit Rev Toxicol, 2025). Regarding safety, a comprehensive 2025 toxicity review provides substantial reassurance. #3: Avobenzone has a suitable safety profile without clear markers of toxicity, and clinical data shows low percutaneous absorption in humans—meaning very little penetrates through the skin (≤0.59% of the applied dose) (Crit Rev Toxicol, 2025). #4: Testing in animals showed no evidence of effects on immune tissues, hormone systems (estrogen, androgen, or thyroid), or genotoxicity (Crit Rev Toxicol, 2025). #5: Based on safety margins greater than 100 when compared to doses shown to cause no harm in animal studies, avobenzone is unlikely to pose a health risk at permitted usage levels (Crit Rev Toxicol, 2025).

However, one recent study raised a caution flag: when avobenzone was combined with another sunscreen ingredient (homosalate) at high concentrations in laboratory tests, it augmented anti-androgenic responses in a male fish model (Chemosphere, 2023). The researchers noted that further study of long-term exposure effects is needed, so this remains an area requiring more research before drawing conclusions. Because of avobenzone’s photostability challenge, researchers are developing improved formulations. #6: Strategies include encapsulation, adding antioxidants, using photostabilizers, and employing molecular quenchers to prevent breakdown (Pharmaceutics, 2023). One experimental approach involved creating a hybrid derivative of avobenzone combined with resveratrol (an antioxidant), which showed improved photostability and reduced phototoxic potential in skin cell models (Front Physiol, 2024).

📄 Related Research

Matched by search — not necessarily verified support for every statement above.

• Kumar P et al. (2015). Patent review on photostability enhancement of avobenzone and its formulations. Recent Pat Drug Deliv Formul.
• Norman KG et al. (2025). Comprehensive review of avobenzone (butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane) toxicology data and human exposure assessment for personal care products. Crit Rev Toxicol.
• Gholap AD et al. (2023). Drug Delivery Strategies for Avobenzone: A Case Study of Photostabilization. Pharmaceutics.
• Lee S et al. (2023). Single and mixture toxicity evaluation of avobenzone and homosalate to male zebrafish and H295R cells. Chemosphere.
• Pasuch Gluzezak AJ et al. (2024). Evaluation of the photoprotective and antioxidant potential of an avobenzone derivative. Front Physiol.

📰 Recent News

• Affinity of Oxybenzone and Avobenzone toward Lipids in Model Membrane Systems: On the Role of Membranes in the Harmful Effect of UV Filters on Living Organisms (PubMed)
• The impact of avobenzone and oxybenzone on fibroblast and keratinocyte membranes. Searching for the role of lipids in the effect of UV filters on skin cells (PubMed)

🧴 Products Containing Avobenzone

• Hyphen sunscreen
• Edgewell, Hawaiian Tropic Sheer Touch Oil-free Sunscreen Lotion 30 SPF
• up & up sport sunscreen lotion
• Supergoop Unseen Sunscreen
• Tula TULA sun protection measures
• Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen with Helioplex
• Garnier Ombrelle Ombrelle endurance sport
• Edgewell, Hawaiian Tropic Sheer Touch Oil-free Sunscreen Lotion SPF 15
• Banana Boat UltraSport Faces Sunscreen Lotion UVA/UVB Broad Spectrum SPF 30
• Banana Boat Sport Performance Advanced UVA/UVB Sunscreen
• Cetaphil Cetaphil Oil-Free Facial Moisturizer with Sunscreen SPF 35
• jack black Jack Black Double-Duty Face Moisturizer SPF 20
• Supergoop Play Everyday Lotion SPF 50 with Sunflower Extract
• Cetaphil Cetaphil Pro Oil Absorbing Moisturizer SPF 30
• La Roche-Posay Toleriane Double Repair Face Moisturizer UV SPF 30
• lip butter
• Eclipsol Ultra crema
• Neutrogena Ultra Sheeran Body Mist Sunscreen
• up & up sport sunscreen lotion
• Life Kids sunscreen lotion
• Laura Mercier Tinted Moisturizer Natural Skin Perfector Broad Spectrum SPF 30
• Equate Sunscreen: Broad Spectrum SPF 50 Spray
• Neutrogena sport face oil-free lotion sunscreen 70