Whether you are headed to the beach for the weekend or going to a sports tournament, one item you can’t leave the house without is sunscreen. While this incredibly important product helps us to stay cancer free, it is impacting our coral reefs in ways that many don’t realize.
Most spray sunblocks contain chemicals such as oxybenzone and octinoxate. These organic chemical compounds are a prime ingredient in sunscreens because they act as chemical filters against the sun’s UV rays. When these chemicals wash off your skin and into the ocean, coral is negatively affected by them, which ultimately leads to wide-scale coral bleaching. Coral bleaching occurs when the living parts of the coral, called polyps, leave the coral due to the unnatural water chemistry. When this happens, the coral skeleton turns white and can no longer survive on its own.
Corals all over the world are experiencing this mass death, but one of the places getting hit the hardest is Hawaii. With 9.3 million annual visitors, 14,000 tons of sunscreen per year end up in the ocean surrounding the islands, and the effects are visible. According to Newsweek, on average, half of all the islands’ coral reefs are damaged. Without changing sunscreens’ compositions, most of the corals in the Hawaiian reefs could be gone by 2050. In addition to the large scale reforms being put in place, it’s up to ordinary vacation-ers to save the corals’ future. According to the EWG, oxybenzone is found in 80 percent of chemical sunscreens, which may lead consumers to believe that it is hard to find an alternative.
Fortunately, the switch to a non-chemical, reef-safe sunscreen is more than easy. For a sunscreen to be certified reef-safe, ingredients have to be “non-nano.” That means they are more than 100 nanometers, so the corals are unable to absorb the ingredients. You can find these in mineral-based sunscreens, which should be mostly made up of zinc oxide or titanium oxide. If you are still looking for a spray-on sunscreen, you are in luck. Some spray sunscreen brands that are reef-safe are Sunbum and Coola. Making the switch to help corals is as simple as buying a new brand of sunblock online. You will not only be helping the coral reefs, but also making a healthy choice for your body!
For more info!
What is biodegradable sunscreen?
http://www.goddessgarden.com/blog/is-your-sunscreen-reef-safe/
https://oceanconservancy.org/blog/2018/05/24/sunscreen-killing-coral-reef/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wthTmQHmuZ0&t=95s (35:08-37:13)
https://www.latimes.com/travel/hawaii/la-tr-hawaii-hotel-prices-incease-as-does-tourism-20180207-story.html
https://www.newsweek.com/hawaii-half-coral-reefs-bleached-702058