Coppertone Sport SPF 50: Homosalate at 20× the EU Safe Level, Octocrylene Conversion Included
10% homosalate, the EU's science panel found the ingredient unsafe at 10% and recommended 0.5% as the maximum. The US permits 15%. The gap is 20×.
Coppertone Sport SPF 50 leads its active ingredient panel with homosalate at 10% and octocrylene at 8%. The SCCS (SCCS/1622/20, June 2021) concluded homosalate 'is not safe when used as a UV-filter in cosmetic products at concentrations of up to 10%' and recommended a maximum of 0.5%. The US FDA permits up to 15% and has taken no action on the scientific finding. The octocrylene at 8% continues to accumulate benzophenone, no tolerance as a food additive in the US, no safe harbor under Prop 65. Both oxybenzone and octinoxate are absent; the label says so.
The label, flagged
Avobenzone 3%ACTUALLY FINE
The workhorse UVA filter. It absorbs into skin like the others, but carries no specific harm finding, and it's what's actually protecting you from deep UVA.
active
Homosalate 10%AVOID
The EU's own science panel found it unsafe above 0.5%, every sunscreen here uses it at 9–15%, up to 30× that level. The FDA still allows it.
active
Octisalate 4.5%ACTUALLY FINE
A mild, low-scrutiny UVB filter that also stabilizes avobenzone. Nothing in the evidence flags it. Cleared.
active
Octocrylene 8%CAUTION
Degrades inside the bottle into benzophenone, a carcinogen with zero allowed level in food and no safe harbor under Prop 65. The longer it sits, the more forms.
active
Water
Aluminum Starch Octenylsuccinate
Styrene/Acrylates Copolymer
Glycerin
Polyester-27
Silica
PhenoxyethanolCAUTION
The default paraben replacement, cleared by the EU at up to 1%, but France moved to keep it off babies' skin. Fine for most; watch it around infants.
Isododecane
Arachidyl Alcohol
Beeswax
wax base
Ethylhexylglycerin
Neopentyl Glycol Diheptanoate
Behenyl Alcohol
Acrylates/C10-30 Alkyl Acrylate Crosspolymer
Arachidyl Glucoside
Glyceryl Stearate
PEG-100 Stearate
PEG-derived emulsifier
Potassium Hydroxide
FragranceCAUTION
Not a hazard in itself, but a legal black box. “Fragrance” can shield ingredients (including EU-banned ones) that you are never told are there.
Disodium EDTA
Source: DailyMed (NIH/FDA) NDC 66800-4107, revised December 2025. View label. Tap any flagged ingredient for the evidence.
What to use instead
The fix isn’t complicated: a fragrance-free or fully-disclosed alternative, with the ingredients flagged on this label designed out, closes these gaps at once. We pick the ones worth your money.
See mineral sunscreen picks →Editorial analysis of the publicly listed label and regulatory/peer-reviewed sources. Not medical advice, not affiliated with the brand. Verdicts are evidence-graded, we flag what the data flags and clear what it clears.