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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 .
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."
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.