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Key West Moves To Ban Sunscreens That Could Damage Reefs (miamiherald.com)
Yesterday, the Key West City Commission unanimously voted to ban the sale of sunscreens that contain two ingredients -- oxybenzone and octinoxate -- that a growing body of scientific evidence says harm coral reefs. The measure must now be reviewed again by the commission before it becomes law. The second vote is scheduled for February 5th. Miami Herald reports: Environmental researchers have published studies showing how these two ingredients, which accumulate in the water from bathers or from wastewater discharges, can damage coral reefs through bleaching and harming the corals' DNA. In some instances, the corals can die. A Feburary 2016 study in the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology examining the impact of oxybenzone in corals in Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands concluded that the sunscreen ingredient "poses a hazard to coral reef conservation and threatens the resiliency of coral reefs to climate change.''
Last year, Hawaii banned the sale or distribution of any sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate, a measure that will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021. It was the first state in the nation to implement such a ban. In Florida, the website for the South Florida Reef Ambassador Initiative, which falls under the state's Department of Environmental Protection, tells divers to "Avoid sunscreens with Oxybenzone and Avobenzone. The benzones are compounds that are lethal to coral reproduction in very small amounts." Experts who have studied the issue say sunscreens with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, which are minerals, also block ultraviolet rays. They create a barrier on the skin that deflect the sun's rays .
Last year, Hawaii banned the sale or distribution of any sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate, a measure that will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021. It was the first state in the nation to implement such a ban. In Florida, the website for the South Florida Reef Ambassador Initiative, which falls under the state's Department of Environmental Protection, tells divers to "Avoid sunscreens with Oxybenzone and Avobenzone. The benzones are compounds that are lethal to coral reproduction in very small amounts." Experts who have studied the issue say sunscreens with zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, which are minerals, also block ultraviolet rays. They create a barrier on the skin that deflect the sun's rays .
Key West moves to ban all carbon containing substances as medical bills skyrocket.
The president’s endorsement of the U.S.S.R.’s invasion of Afghanistan echoes a narrative promoted by Vladimir Putin.
Great news. There are a lot fo quality mineral-based sunscreens that don't kill coral.
Why are you spouting anti-Trump propaganda? Oh right, cuz you need the clicks to get paid. I get it.
While you are at it, why not also look into not selling sunscreen that is questionable for humans too...
However I fear it may have little effect, since a lot of people bring their own sunscreen from elsewhere. But you may as well try.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Better yet, build a barbed wire fence so all the fudgepackers can be left hanging on it.
All you SJWs who don't like my comment should hang yourselves in protest. It would be the most eloquent thing you could do and your parents would be proud of you, especially because they could finally see you do something that was not stupid.
Considering you are diluting it into the Ocean?
Highland coral? They call them roughs
HRC is not in Government. Trump is a traitor on Putin's direct payroll, spouting Kremlin party-line propaganda even before he did Putin's direct bidding, pulling out of Syria, leaving allies to die on the battlefield. 100% traitor.
#Rope is coming.
THERE WILL ALWAYS BE CONSEQUENCES FOR YOUR LIES AND PROPAGANDA NAZI FAGGOT KEN DOLL UNTIL YOU DIE
Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING. Filter error: Don't use so many caps. It's like YELLING.
#ILovePopcorn
You idiotic freaks need to stop pretending you actually care about this. As if you don't know what damages the planet and what doesn't. OOPS who knew about teh sunscreen! Yeah right. It's just another pat-yourself-on-the-back show for you truth hating diseased creatures. So that you can make believe you actually care and that you can "SAVE TEH PLANETTT!!"
The good news for the rest of the universe is that you diseased motherfuckers are going to destroy your own planet. Guess what! The rest of the universe cares as much about you as you cared for your home, which is NOT AT ALL. Good riddance, your self-induced extinction can't come soon enough.
You can still be gay here without the poop in the street.
I can't help but think this is just spitting into the wind. There are lots of chemicals which potentially harm reefs. Oxybenzone and octinoxate just get picked on because there was already a large conspiracy theory-ish movement to get those two banned, which quickly latched on to any alternative reason to ban them.
if you look at all chemicals we add to the water which potentially harms coral, fertilizer would seem to be the biggest culprit. And we dump probably a trillion times more fertilizer into the oceans (via agricultural runoff) than sunscreen. These sunscreen bans are like making a fuss over a tiny crack in the road, while ignoring the smoking mile-wide crater.
And so did every other Senator - for the exception of 2 who were too chicken shit to vote against.
See, most American's wanted revenge. They were (are) incapable of thinking rationally - especially when the drums of war are beating.
So, the politicians use that as a means to keep their power. Did the vote really mean anything? Bush was going in no matter what - regardless of Congress said.
So, your point?
And now, most Republicans are too chicken shit to stand up to Trump's stupidity. AND there is an obvious solution where Trump can save face and his ego, keep a campaign promise (win for him) AND give the Democrats a win - such a great win that both Pelosi and Schumer would get on their knees and suck Trump sideways. But we can't have that in this sports team mentality where the other guys have to completely lose in order for "our" team to "win". And it baffles me that no one has mentioned it. But Trump in his deal making complete ineptitude is stuck on that one distraction issue. And it doesn't help that McConnell is an unethical liar and is enabling Trump's idiocy.
Just ban key west. It would be a lot easier.
I know zinc oxide is a good sunscreen, but you can't really wear that all the time if you're fair-skinned or have risk factors for skin cancer. Are there good ones, that protect from the cancer-causing wavelengths, affordably? Do they look like zinc oxide sunscreen aka clown make-up? I'm not really familiar with this topic. I suppose maybe Florida fashions could adapt and it could be considered normal to sit in a business meeting painted like Bozo the Clown.
I rarely use sunscreen, so this doesn't affect me enough for me to research it more.
It's interesting. I'm a bit surprised that parts-in-a-billion concentration of sunscreen would have a significant affect on coral. I almost wonder if this isn't based on research where they applied sunscreen to coral at a million times the concentration that is found in the ocean. If I cared more I'd read the study. I'm not saying the study is bogus, just that it smells funny because of the amount of sunscreen vs water - it seems like it would be so dilute that couldn't have any significant affect. Surprising things happen, though. Could be legit.
If you take a drum of poison down to the beach and dump it into the water, dead shit is gonna float up.. The end may be that it is diluted into the entire ocean, but at the moment it hits the water it's being diluted into whatever small volume it's in.
I read this as "Kanye West" and was blown away by his sudden charitable foresight, yet highly confused.
Lets slather ourselves with non biodegradable nanoparticles which are known photo-catalysts, can penetrate cells and go sit in UV light ... what could possibly go wrong?
I switched to the vanishing zinc oxide sunscreen because the Oxybenzone stuff creates terrible stains on my clothing due to the iron in my water (which runs through a cast iron pipe from the water company). I haven't noticed any decrease in sunscreen effectiveness, but there is certainly a significant increase in price for the zinc oxide stuff. Since I live 3000 miles from Key West I guess I'm doing my part for the coral reefs too.
..and not Kanye
Donte Alistair Anderson Roberts - hi son!
Karma: Chameleon
:)
Hawaii has already banned such sunscreens, as has Palau. It makes sense to do it, it's easy enough to do it. Maybe it's just buying time for the reefs if climate change continues unabated - but it's worth trying, at least.
Bid deal. Mexico banned them on the Riviera Maya beachâ(TM)s years ago. Same body of water as the Keys. Same heat stress issues on the reefs. Big Duh!
Floriduhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh
It would be way too labor intensive to check every person's luggage to see if they had a sunscreen with a banned ingredient. You would need a DEA sized workforce. "War on Sunscreen" just doesnt have the ring to it that "War on Drugs" has.
The ban is more of a suggestion.
**Life is too short to be serious**
Current sunscreen products wash off fairly quickly, thus the admonition to re-apply regularly.
There are some dyes that are fairly indelible on skin, inks and such. The upper layer of the skin is permanently stained, and the stain doesn't go away until the stained layers wear away.
Is there (or could it be synthesized) such a dye that is opaque in UV but otherwise colorless? Apply once, good for a couple of days? (Actually, even if it did have some garish color in visible light, it might become a fashion statement. But I'm shooting for invisible to normal vision.)
For those who plan on spending a whole lot of their life in the sun, what about UV-protective tattooing? I'm not sure if tattoo pigments are too deep, and would be below the layers of skin that need protection, but maybe all-over tattooing with that transparent titanium dioxide sunscreen could be permanent protection.