2nd August 2024 Bulletin

This week, with summer holidays upon us, Eco Corner takes a deep dive – into the thorny issue of reef-safe sunscreen.  Visitors to beaches in some parts of the world are now confronted with stern warnings against using reef 'unsafe' sun creams, and eco-conscious holiday shoppers are voting with their wallets.  As a result, most major brands are now jumping on the reef-safe bandwagon.
 
In brief, laboratory tests showed that some popular sunscreen ingredients, most prominently the UV blockers oxybenzone and octinoxate, might be harmful to corals and other reef organisms.  In place of these, reef-safe sunscreens generally use mineral-based UV blockers such as titanium and zinc oxides.  Because they are derived from naturally occurring minerals, they are assumed to be safer.  But the problem is that the science is very far from clear. There is no evidence that concentrations of sunscreen chemicals that you find in the sea really affect reefs, and there is also no guarantee that zinc and titanium-based UV blockers are less harmful to coral (the opposite may be true).
 
The best advice is to limit the amount of sunscreen you need to apply by covering up with long-sleeved, high-necked sunsuits, so that less sunscreen gets in the water to start with.  And really, sunscreen is a sideshow in terms of coral health, because the far more important threat to their health is ocean heating.  As the Smithsonian Institute puts it: “the best chance coral reefs have of survival is to slow the progress of climate change, so choosing a local travel destination over a long, gas-guzzling international flight might just be the most reef friendly choice.”