Slashdot Mirror

← Back to Stories (view on slashdot.org)

Key West Moves To Ban Sunscreens That Could Damage Reefs (miamiherald.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the environmental-protection dept.

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 .

12 of 90 comments (clear)

  1. Re:One "giant stride"for coral by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 2

    Great news. There are a lot fo quality mineral-based sunscreens that don't kill coral.

    Hawaii did it first. These sunscreens were banned there last year.

  2. Re:Key West should ban cock-gobblers by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

    Sounds like you haven't found the courage to come out yet ... you need a Grindr account.

  3. Re:Good idea by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 2

    Require signs in stores and beach entrances to educate beachgoers -- I don't think anyone WANTS to be part of damaging something beautiful.

  4. Re:Good idea by Rockoon · · Score: 3, Interesting

    I dont live in an overly sunny area of the world so I dont know anything about sunscreen, so I did a quick search...

    Consumer Reports 2018, top 5 sunscreens:
    (A) La Roche-Posay Anthelios 60 Melt-In Sunscreen Milk.
    (B) Coppertone Sport SPF 50 Lotion Sunscreen.
    (C) Aveeno Protect + Hydrate Lotion SPF 30.
    (D) Banana Boat SunComfort Clear UltraMist Spray SPF 50+ Sunscreen.
    (E) Coppertone Kids Sunscreen Stick SPF 55.


    The offending ingredients named in the summary are Oxybenzone and Octinoxate

    (A) contains Oxybenzone 3.86%
    (B) neither listed
    (C) contains Oxybenzone 5%
    (D) contains Oxybenzone 3%
    (E) contains Oxybenzone 6%

    All of them (including B) listed an active ingredient with a similar sounding name to Octinoxate called Octisalate.

    Given that apparently the best sunscreens use this stuff, it would be no surprise that people would just go ahead and ignore the law.

    --
    "His name was James Damore."
  5. Spitting into the wind by Solandri · · Score: 5, Insightful

    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.

    1. Re:Spitting into the wind by jpaine619 · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Just because something has a small effect doesn't mean it should not be treated. If we tackle all the small components it will eventually add up.

      It's like when you get a small cut or abrasion.. It's small. No big deal.. But if you don't tend to it, there is the possibility it can get infected.. That can kill you..

      i.e. Tackle the small problems first.. Then you can tackle the big problems down the road when you can.. But you don't just stare at the huge problem and say "Too big.. Me go home now"...

      I'm a pretty strong conservative, but I don't see a lot of this as being liberal/conservative.. I like nature. I like visiting it on the weekend and maybe killing some shit and then eating it.. But I can't do that if we don't have a fucking nature in the first place..

    2. Re:Spitting into the wind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      So if my arm is partially amputated causing massive blood loss and I have an obvious melanoma growing on my other arm I should make sure to stop and clean and dress a small scratch on my leg first? Then I can worry about the massive trauma on one limb and deadly cancer on another? Because "Tackle the small problem first."

      That's what you are saying. We should temporarily ignore the thing that is killing coral and creating dead zones larger than entire states in the gulf of Mexico and other river outlets into oceans around the world. While we make people stop using sunscreen that is 0.0001% of what is damaging coral?

      I'm 100% fine with banning sunscreens with these ingredients but you need to pull your head out of your rear if you really buy the crap you are spewing.

      You focus on the most immediate threat. Fertilizer runoff is an extreme problem. A few thousand tourists wearing sunscreen in the Florida keys is insignificant in comparison. Stopping 0.1% of farm runoff would do more than banning those sunscreen ingredients across the entire world.

      In the end completely removing chemicals won't save coral. The main killer of coral that likely can't be stopped no matter what is ocean warming and acidification.

    3. Re:Spitting into the wind by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Interesting

      Translation: ban all the other (potentially) harmful things before you ban my $favorite_sunscreen.

      Go put on a hat.

    4. Re:Spitting into the wind by thegarbz · · Score: 2

      Just because something has a small effect doesn't mean it should not be treated.

      That depends on if that something has a benefit. The GP's crack in the road doesn't have a benefit. The mixture of chemicals in sunscreen however dramatically help reduce skin cancer rates.

  6. Re:What kind of volume does it take to have an aff by jpaine619 · · Score: 2

    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.

  7. Re:Good idea by Jesus+H+Rolle · · Score: 2

    I don't think anyone WANTS to be part of damaging something beautiful.

    As soon as the government shut down, people drove into Joshua Tree National Park and started cutting down Joshua trees. People would pulverize coral with sledgehammers and then dissolve it in acid if it weren't so inaccessible. A certain portion of humanity is simply shit.

  8. How do you enforce? by ghoul · · Score: 2

    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**