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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.
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 ways that the ingredient oxybenzone breaks the coral down, robbing it of life-giving nutrients and turning it ghostly white.
Adverse effects on coral started on with concentrations as low as 62 parts per trillion. Yet measurements of oxybenzone in seawater within coral reefs in Hawaii and the U.S. Virgin Islands found concentrations ranging from 800 parts per trillion to 1.4 parts per million. That's 12 times the concentrations needed to harm coral.
Oxybenzone is used in more than 3,500 sunscreen products worldwide. Common brands including Coppertone, Baby Blanket Faces, L'Oreal Paris, Hawaiian Tropic and Banana Boat all use the Oxy.
There are alternative sunscreens with no oxybenzone. The trouble is that nobody really knows about this threat to the reefs, and they take a fair bit of convincing.
This story appeared in the Portland Press Herald
(Score: 3, Informative) by That_Dude on Thursday October 22 2015, @02:34PM
After digging around and reading these two articles, I wonder just how far back up the food chain this substance goes and also its effect on plankton and cyanobacteria.
http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2006-11/src-swb110606.php [eurekalert.org] - "Sunscreens with benzophenone-3 unsuitable for children."
http://toxnet.nlm.nih.gov/cgi-bin/sis/search2/r?dbs+hsdb:@term+@rn+@rel+131-57-7 [nih.gov] - "AQUATIC FATE: Based on a classification scheme(1), an estimated Koc value of 2,700(SRC), determined from a log Kow of 3.79(2) and a regression-derived equation(3), indicates that 2-hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone is expected to adsorb to suspended solids and sediment(SRC). Volatilization from water surfaces is not expected(3) based upon an estimated Henry's Law constant of 1.5X10-8 atm-cu m/mole(SRC), developed using a fragment constant estimation method(4). According to a classification scheme(5), a BCF range of 33-160(2) suggests the potential for bioconcentration in aquatic organisms is moderate to high(SRC). This substance is expected to biodegrade slowly in water based on 4% degradation after 28 days in a MITI screening test(2).
[(1) Swann RL et al; Res Rev 85: 17-28 (1983) (2) Chemicals Inspection and Testing Institute; Biodegradation and bioaccumulation data of existing chemicals based on the CSCL Japan. Japan Chemical Industry Ecology - Toxicology and Information Center. ISBN 4-89074-101-1 (1992) (3) Lyman WJ et al; Handbook of Chemical Property Estimation Methods. Washington, DC: Amer Chem Soc pp. 4-9, 15-1 to 15-29 (1990) (4) Meylan WM, Howard PH; Environ Toxicol Chem 10: 1283-93 (1991) (5) Franke C et al; Chemosphere 29: 1501-14 (1994)] **PEER REVIEWED**"