Chemical (organic) UV filterReef research: Strong concern

Octinoxate

A UVB filter banned alongside oxybenzone in nearly every jurisdiction with a sunscreen law, including Hawaii's original 2018 statute.

Banned in

Hawaii
U.S. Virgin Islands
Palau
Guam
Northern Mariana Islands
Thailand

Also excluded where only mineral sunscreen is allowed

Maui County
Hawaiʻi County

Is Octinoxate safe for your skin?

The FDA lists it among 12 filters that need more data, and says that is a request for data, not a finding that they are unsafe.

FDA: octinoxate is one of 12 sunscreen filters proposed in 2021 as not yet generally recognised as safe and effective because more data is needed. FDA says this is not a conclusion that they are unsafe. Its September 2026 final order removed only PABA and trolamine salicylate; the other proposals are left to future orders.
EU SCCS (2025, SCCS/1671/24): found octinoxate is endocrine-active, with estrogenic and weak anti-androgenic activity in vitro and in vivo. It nonetheless gave the opinion that octinoxate is safe at up to 10% in sunscreen, face, hand and lip products, including for children. Its remit did not cover environmental safety.

Last reviewed October 14, 2026. This summarises what regulators and published studies found. It isn't medical advice.

Where it’s restricted

Named in the law or guidance

Location	Status	Since
Hawaii (statewide) law text ↗	In force	January 1, 2021
U.S. Virgin Islands law text ↗	In force	March 30, 2020
Palau law text ↗	In force	January 1, 2020
Guam law text ↗	In force	October 9, 2025
Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) law text ↗	In force	July 1, 2021
Thailand (all national parks) law text ↗	In force	August 4, 2021
Bonaire (Bonaire National Marine Park) law text ↗	Advisory	—
U.S. National Parks with coral reefs (NPS guidance) law text ↗	Advisory	—
Key West, Florida law text ↗	Repealed	January 1, 2021

Also not allowed under mineral-only rules

Octinoxate isn’t named in these laws, but they allow only mineral (zinc oxide or titanium dioxide) sunscreens, so a product containing it is excluded anyway.

Maui County (Maui, Molokaʻi, Lānaʻi) (in force since October 1, 2022)
Hawaiʻi County (Big Island) (in force since December 1, 2022)

Why it’s regulated

FDA's 2021 proposed order lists octinoxate among 12 sunscreen filters that are not yet recognised as safe and effective because more data is needed.

What the reef research says

In experiments with Acropora coral fragments, Danovaro et al. (2008) tested individual UV filters and found that octinoxate, benzophenone-3, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor and butylparaben each caused complete bleaching, while octocrylene and ethylhexyl salicylate had little or no effect. A 2021 critical review judged that study of limited use for octinoxate, because the concentrations the corals received are unclear. In a 7-day test on adult Seriatopora caliendrum and Pocillopora damicornis (He et al. 2019), octinoxate alone caused death and bleaching only at 1000 µg/L, and only in S. caliendrum. Diluted sunscreen wash-off water containing about 422 µg/L of octinoxate killed 66.7 to 83.3% of S. caliendrum and 33.3 to 50% of P. damicornis, and the authors concluded other sunscreen ingredients may raise the bioavailability of the active filters and worsen toxicity. The 2021 review found octinoxate had been tested on corals in only two studies, and a preliminary risk screening ranked it highest among the filters compared, with median risk quotients below 1 but some sites above 1. The National Academies (2022) put the highest measured water concentrations for several filters, octinoxate included, at 1 to 10 µg/L, with most measurements below 1 µg/L.

Sources (6)