Samm, UR - Could We Be Hurting the Coral, Too?

After learning about the potential hazards with sunscreen use and the slowed growth of phytoplankton, I was surprised to learn that our sunscreen could also be damaging coral.

Coral Reef Safe Sunscreen

The first "article" I found on the subject wasn't even an article! I had stumbled onto a website for Coral Safe Sunscreen. Their website claimed that four commonly found sunscreen ingredients (Oxybenzone, Butylparaben, Octinoxate, and 4-methylbenzylidene camphor) were shown to cause coral bleaching. Their website also led me to two different articles on the subject, but I was a little skeptical. After all - despite the fact they had hyperlinked to several articles AND the scientific study the information came from - I knew that this company was still trying to "sell" me their products, and I did not want to be so gullible as to just believe what they were telling me.

Bleached coral

So, I clicked on the link for the scientific study on sunscreen causing coral bleaching by promoting viral infections. Their results stated that sunscreen (even in small amounts) could cause coral to completely bleach because the organic ultraviolet filters in sunscreens caused viral infections in symbiotic zooanthellae.

Looking at the PLOS ONE scientific study for sunscreen pollutants, I noted that they included both Oxybenzone and 4-methylbenzylidene camphor as UV filters.That is two studies now that have found these sunscreen ingredients to be harmful to sea life. If I definitely decide to pursue this topic for my IRP, I think I would like to see if sunscreen is causing similar issues in freshwater sources, like our springs.