Sunscreen and Coral Reef Systems

It’s starting to become more widely understood that many of our behaviors can have disastrous effects on ocean life. What we often don’t understand though is how even those seemingly harmless behaviors, such as putting on a simple sunscreen to protect us from skin cancer, can damage coral reef systems.

This is why we always recommend using UV protective swimwear as often as possible in order to eliminate unnecessary chemicals from our oceans.

Check out this publication on Sciencenews.org on the effects of oxybenzone on reef life.

It’s still unclear what amount of oxybenzone might be toxic to coral reefs in the wild. Another lingering question, Downs says, is whether other sunscreen components that are similar in structure to oxybenzone might have the same effects. Pinning that down could help researchers make better, reef-safe sunscreens.