Considered the first scientific evidence on the impact of sunscreens on coral reefs, the study confirmed what some scientists and locals had witnessed: that swimmers, surfers and divers in popular beach destinations were affecting marine ecosystems. In 2008, Corinaldesi and her colleagues the Polytechnic University of Marche in Ancona, Italy, found that three individual chemical, or organic, sunscreen ingredients-oxybenzone, butylparaben and octinoxate-can bleach coral reefs. And this is enough, says Corinaldesi, to make an impact. While it’s unclear to what extent exactly bleaching actually affected by sunscreen compared to other factors, an estimated 6,000 to 14,000 tons of sunscreen go into coral reef areas each year. “We’re talking about lots of sunscreen that is going to be dumped into the ocean.” “By 2020, over one billion people around the world will be visiting oceans for recreation and tourism,” he says. Roman-Velazquez, a professor at the University of Puerto Rico at Mayaguez and one of the researchers behind a new experiment to remove oxybezone from bodies of water. The mounting research on the impact of sunscreen on coral reefs and marine environments is more important than ever, says analytical environmental chemist Felix R. Some sunscreen formulas include both kinds of sunscreen actives. On the other hand, chemical, or organic, sunscreens, which typically include oxybenzone, octinoxate, avobenzone and PABA as ingredients, absorb and reduce UV rays’ ability to penetrate the skin. Physical sunscreens, also called mineral or inorganic, block or reflect both UVA and UVB rays zinc oxide and titanium dioxide are the two most common physical sunscreen ingredients. There are two kinds of sunscreen ingredients on the market, which work in different ways. According to marine ecology researcher Cinzia Corinaldesi, who has studied the impact of sunscreens on coral reefs since 2003, the problem is that “unfortunately, oxybenzone is not the only harmful ingredient of sunscreens.” Other UV filters, including zinc oxide, are proving to have an impact on coral bleaching-and the ban does nothing to prevent these. ( Bleaching happens when conditions like temperature change so dramatically that corals turn completely white and the symbiotic algae living in their tissues flee their homes.) In February, Downs told The New York Times that sunscreen and other chemical wash-off through showering and swimming plays a bigger role than climate change in damaging coral reefs.īut just how conclusive the evidence on sunscreen’s impact on coral reefs-and whether consumers should switch to “reef-friendly” sunscreens-remains disputed. The Hawaiian ban was based on a 2016 study by Craig Downs and colleagues at the Haereticus Environmental Laboratory, which showed that these two chemicals were to blame for slowing coral growth and increasing the rate of coral bleaching. The reason for this seemingly perverse law, which goes into effect in 2021, was recent research confirming that the lotion we slather on to protect our skin can also do grave harm to the world’s coral reefs. Not all sunscreen-just the kind containing the active ingredients oxybenzone and octinoxate-but that encompassed most of the major brands, from Banana Boat to Coppertone. Earlier this month, Hawaii banned sunscreen.
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