Environment & Energy
Related: About this forumHow we are all contributing to the destruction of coral reefs: Sunscreen
The sunscreen that snorkelers, beachgoers and children romping in the waves lather on for protection is killing coral and reefs around the globe. And a new study finds that a single drop in a small area is all it takes for the chemicals in the lotion to mount an attack.
The study, released Tuesday, was conducted in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Hawaii several years after a chance encounter between a group of researchers on one of the Caribbean beaches, Trunk Bay, and a vendor waiting for the days invasion of tourists. Just wait to see what theyd leave behind, he told the scientists a long oil slick. His comment sparked the idea for the research.
Not only did the study determine that a tiny amount of sunscreen is all it takes to begin damaging the delicate corals the equivalent of a drop of water in a half-dozen Olympic-sized swimming pools it documented three different ways that the ingredient oxybenzone breaks the coral down, robbing it of life-giving nutrients and turning it ghostly white.
Yet beach crowds arent the only people who add to the demise of the coral reefs found just off shore. Athletes who slather sunscreen on before a run, mothers who coat their children before outdoor play and people trying to catch some rays in the park all come home and wash it off.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/news/energy-environment/wp/2015/10/20/after-sunscreen-protects-humans-it-massacres-coral-reefs/
yeoman6987
(14,449 posts)I guess chemists need to get back to the drawing board finding a safer sunscreen ASAP. I don't see people taking a chance on skin cancer to save the coral reef. Just don't see that happening.
OKIsItJustMe
(19,938 posts)Judi Lynn
(160,588 posts)Tue Oct 20, 2015 10:42pm BST
Sunscreen ingredient toxic to coral, killing off reefs: research
ORLANDO, Fla. | By Barbara Liston
A common ingredient found in sunscreen is toxic to coral and contributing to the decline of reefs around the world, according to new research published on Tuesday.
Oxybenzone, a UV-filtering chemical compound found in 3,500 brands of sunscreen worldwide, can be fatal to baby coral and damaging to adults in high concentrations, according the study published in the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology.
The international research team that conducted the study, led by Craig Downs, found the highest concentrations of oxybenzone around coral reefs popular with tourists, particularly those in Hawaii and the Caribbean.
Downs, of the non-profit scientific organization Haereticus Environmental Laboratory in Virginia, said the study helped explain why scientists aren't seeing baby corals in many established reefs in resort areas.
More:
http://uk.reuters.com/article/2015/10/20/us-usa-coral-sunscreen-idUKKCN0SE2VE20151020?rpc=401
mahatmakanejeeves
(57,559 posts)Updated 10:58 am, Wednesday, October 21, 2015
It's important to wear sunscreen while you're on vacation in sunny climes, but unfortunately that healthy practice may be partly destroying the coral reefs.
A study published in the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology posits that a popular UV-filter ingredient can be fatal to baby coral. At higher concentrations, oxybenzone can also kill adult coral. The study focused on popular tourist spots like Hawaii and the Caribbean, where between 6,000 and 14,000 tons of sunscreen enter the water every year.
It only takes one part of oxybenzone per 62 trillion parts of water to have a deleterious effect on the reef. In the studied areas, concentrations were 12 times as high.
Oxybenzone works to disrupt coral DNA, causing the coral to "encase itself in its own skeleton and die."