A bottle that says "chemical," "physical" or "hybrid" on the front can look like a verdict. This article asks whether that type word tells you which sunscreen to buy, using what the American Academy of Dermatology says about all three.
What the American Academy of Dermatology says about the three types
The American Academy of Dermatology writes: "Whether you have a chemical, physical, or hybrid sunscreen, they all form a protective layer on your skin that absorbs the sun’s rays."
The sentence puts all three types under one description. It does not rank them.
Where the type name on the label stops helping
On that description, the type word alone gives you no reason to prefer one bottle over another. The label and the evidence agree that the types exist. They part if the front of the bottle suggests that one type is the better one.
Reading the label before a workday outside
This guide is written in Madera, and its readers who work outdoors, in town or anywhere else in the county, can set the label next to another piece of reading. Heat is the subject of the CDC's page on heat stress and workers, and a sunscreen label does not speak to it.
Finding the type word on your own bottle
Find the word "chemical," "physical" or "hybrid" on the bottle you hold. Knowing which one it is lets you read the American Academy of Dermatology sentence against it. If the bottle names none of the three, you have found a question for the next source.
How a product suits your own skin
The Skin Cancer Foundation's sunscreen page is a good next stop for the parts of the label this article did not cover. That question is one for a clinician to answer.