What is it about?
Unfortunately, the World Conservation Institute estimates that 20% of coral reefs are already destroyed, another 25% are in great immediate threat, and another 25% will be threatened by 2050. Over the past three years, one - fifth of the world’s coral reefs have died off — and there is a growing awareness that sunscreen is playing a role. Studies have shown that oxybenzone and octinoxate are found in over 3,500 sunscreen products, including household names like Tropicana, Banana Boat, and Coppertone. From 6,000 to 14,000 tons of sunscreen slide off of humans into coral reef areas each year, exposing the gorgeous underwater ecosystems to chemicals that can kill them.
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Photo by Marek Okon on Unsplash
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This page is a summary of: Sunscreen and coral reef: letter to the editor, MOJ Ecology & Environmental Sciences, August 2019, MedCrave Group LLC,
DOI: 10.15406/mojes.2019.04.00149.
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Resources
What sunscreens are best for you—and the planet?
The world’s coral reefs are suffering, and chemicals commonly found in sunscreen contribute to the problem. By the numbers, the problem is daunting: 14,000 tons of sunscreen are thought to wash into the oceans each year; 82,000 chemicals from personal-care products may be tainting the seas; about 80 percent of corals in the Caribbean have been lost in the last 50 years due to pollution, coastal development, and warming waters.
Why a Sunny Pacific Island Is Banning Sunscreen
The Pacific archipelago of Palau is regarded as one of the best diving locations in the world, with hundreds of varieties of fish and coral found within its reefs. In an effort to protect those natural treasures from harmful chemicals, Palau recently became the first country to ban many types of sunscreen.
Most Sunscreens Can Harm Coral Reefs. What Should Travelers Do?
The coral reefs around the Turks & Caicos Islands are a major tourist attraction, and Mark Parrish is trying to make sure the visitors he takes there don’t kill them with cosmetics.
Sunscreen bans: Coral reefs and skin cancer.
Coral reefs consist of organisms in delicate equilibria that are susceptible to small changes in their surroundings. Recent natural and man-made disruptions, direct or indirect, such as changes in ocean temperature and chemistry, ingress of invasive species, pathogens, pollution and deleterious fishing practices, have been blamed for the poor health, or even the outright destruction, of some coral reefs. The most popular sunscreen products contain two ingredients-oxybenzone and octinoxate-that have also been implicated in coral toxicity and will be banned.
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