NEWS RELEASES
Key West Joins Ban On Coral-Damaging Sunscreens
Editor's Note: This news item was retrieved and first published through the Florida Keys Newsroom's website.
KEY WEST, Fla. — The Key West City Commission recently voted to ban sunscreen products containing chemicals found to negatively impact coral and other marine life. The two chemicals, oxybenzone and octinoxate (also labeled as benzophenone-3 and octyl methoxycinnamate as ingredients), are believed to increase coral bleaching and cause mortality in developing coral, in addition to causing genetic damage to corals and other marine organisms. The Florida Keys National Marine Sanctuary, which lies parallel to Key West and the Florida Keys island chain, is home to the only living coral barrier reef within the continental United States. The ban will go into effect Jan. 1, 2021.
Hawaii, the only other state with living coral reefs, banned the chemicals last summer in an ordinance also scheduled to take effect Jan. 1, 2021. However, environmentally-aware swimmers and divers are already adopting less poisonous sunscreen options, including zinc oxide or titanium dioxide, which create a physical barrier that reflects the sun’s rays. In addition to killing coral, the two banned chemicals have been found at toxic levels in fish, sea turtle eggs, algae, dolphins, oysters, crayfish, mussels, and even human and dolphin breast milk, according to Craig Downs, a forensic ecotoxicologist at Haereticus Environmental Laboratory which conducted the research that propelled Hawaii’s ban. Downs and his team detected oxybenzone and octinoxate in waters around the world.
Guides to sunscreens that are safe for the environment are published by the Haereticus Lab and the Environmental Working Group.