One thing that has been ingrained into our minds is sunscreen, sunscreen, sunscreen. Your mother used to slather it all over you to avoid having a whiny lobster-looking child after a nice day in the sun.
And now you slather it on yourself to ward off melanoma.
But what happens when all those chemicals leech off of us and into the ocean? Well, a 2015 study shows that it’s causing harm. Oxybenzone and octinoxate, chemicals found in almost all sunscreens, was found to have caused the destruction of marine ecosystems, including the Great Barrier Reef.
A study found that these chemicals were found to be highly concentrated in areas where tourists swim in Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands. Now Hawaii is banning the sale of sunscreens that contain these chemicals.
A law to ban the sale of these lotions was signed by the state legislature and is awaiting the governor’s signature.
The ban would start in 2021. The study found that oxybenzone and octinoxate break down coral by sucking out its nutrients and disrupting the development of fish and other sea life like urchins and algae.
A whopping 14,000 tons of sunscreen is believed to end up in coral reefs around the world each year. Another study found that one of Hawaii’s popular snorkeling spots, Hanauma Bay, showed that nearly 2,600 average daily visitors left about 412 pounds of sunscreen in this spot alone.
What’s even more shocking is how little of this stuff you need to do damage.
Damaging effects are said to occur in concentrations as low as 62 parts per trillion or one drop of oxybenzone in six Olympic-sized swimming pools. Some studies have also shown that ocean pollution is not only derived from people wearing sunscreen put wastewater streams as well.
“More and more people realize, as you go home and shower the water is getting treated and put out into the ocean,” Hawaii state Sen. Laura Thielen told KHON2. “So really it’s damaging our corals no matter whether you’re wearing it on land or at the beach.”
Lobbyists, however, say that sunscreen isn’t what’s damaging the ocean ecosystem.
Organizations like the Personal Care Products Council and the Consumer Healthcare Products Association say that global warming, agricultural runoff, sewage, and overfishing are to blame, according to Slate. They argue that oxybenzone is FDA approved and the ingredient that prevents cancer. They say banning it is a public health risk.
Brands like Hawaiian Tropic, Banana Boat, and Coppertone sell products that contain both oxybenzone and octinoxate but there are alternative sunscreens that leave these chemicals out.
Some of these brands even sell these alternatives alongside their other products that contain the chemicals.
These sunscreens use minerals like titanium dioxide or zinc oxide to protect the skin instead of chemicals, according to BuzzFeed. These lines of sunscreen are known to leave a white sheen on your skin which is why they may currently be less popular, Live Science reports.
“Any little thing we can do could have a huge impact, because corals are getting it from every side,” coral biologist Nikki Traylor-Knowles of the University of Miami told Live Science. “Other animals, like fish, can swim away from an area that is being impacted by a chemical, right, but corals can’t do that. They just have to sit there and take it.”
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