And they're not just harmful to the enviroment: In addition to causing deformations in juvenile corals and bleaching, Oxybenzone causes damage to human DNA that can lead to cancer and developmental abnormalities, and it's also an endocrine disruptor that can actually turn male fish into female fish.
Downs and his team tested over 50 sunscreen brands before they discovered that oxybenzone and octinoxate are the most problematic chemicals. “ will cause corals to bleach at 78 degrees, and that’s non-bleaching temperature.” Disturbingly, this begins to happen in just a couple of hours.ĭr. “Corals would normally bleach when the temperatures are above 31 Celsius so it’s really warm water,” he said. Downs, Ph.D., executive director of Haereticus Environmental Laboratory, told Travel + Leisure. The effects of these chemicals almost mimic the damage caused by global warming, as Dr. When you think about how much sunscreen the average family goes through during a week at the beach (and how many families go on tropical getaways every year), it's not a huge surprise. We're not talking about a little bit of runoff, either - an estimated 14,000 tons of sunscreen are being deposited into the coral reefs around the world, reported Travel + Leisure. This is naturally a serious problem in Hawaii, where reefs play a crucial role in the marine ecosystem and a heavy rotation of tourists consistently contaminates the water with sunscreen.
#Reef safe sunscreen coppertone skin#
Beginning January 1, 2021, Hawaii will ban the "sale, offer of sale or distribution of any sunscreens containing oxybenzone or octinoxate without a prescription from a licensed health care provider," according to CNN, and with good reason: Oxybenzone and octinoxate, which help to protect the skin from UV rays, have also been shown to cause "bleaching, deformities, DNA damage and ultimately death" in coral reefs. But what makes a sunscreen reef-friendly?įirst, it's important to understand what makes other sunscreens reef-unfriendly, so to speak. Luckily, there are more and more reef-safe sunscreens hitting the shelves - and they're just as effective as the chemical-laden varieties.
Except, it turns out there's one thing about sunscreen that's pretty irresponsible: Some sunscreens contain chemicals that are destroying our coral reefs at an alarming rate in fact, Hawaii is now banning the use of certain sunblocks as a result. Using sunscreen is a responsible thing to do, right? Actively taking measures to protect your skin from the sun's potentially harmful rays definitely falls into the category of successful adulting.
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