Is it true that sunscreen destroy coral reefs?

Last year, the Thai authorities banned the use of some sunscreen due to the fact that they supposedly contribute to the discoloration of coral reefs. We decided to check whether the creams for tanning are dangerous for sea flora and fauna.

Media ("Vesti.fm", "East-Media", "New Izvestia") They wrote about the negative impact of sunscreen on corals and before their ban in Thailand. When this news appeared, it immediately published a number of Russian and foreign publications (Lenta.ru, Interfax, BBC, "Fontanka" et al.). Glossy magazines (Glamor, Vogue, Blueprint) They began to place collections of environmentally friendly means for tanning and leadership on how to choose them. Tips on how to protect yourself from the sun and not harm nature, appeared On sites for divers. Wrote about this problem and in popular science publications.

The Thai authorities really banned the use of some sunscreen on the beaches. The ban touched creams and lotions containing oxibenzone, otininzate, enzacacen (4-methylbenzilidamphora) and butyl paraben. Moreover, the fine will greatly hit the violator, the amount reaches 100,000 baht (almost 245,000 rubles at the rate for February 2022). Are these funds really so dangerous? Thailand believes that yes, and not only there: a similar ban is already valid on Hawaii (and there it is forbidden not only use, but also the sale of such funds) and the island Palau.

These fears are scientifically justified. In 2008, Italian scientists Spent A number of experiments in the natural environment (in the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans, as well as in the Red Sea) and in the laboratory and found that even the minimum content of the substances that make up the sunscreens and lotions, leads to the rapid discoloration of corals. These substances make corals more susceptible to high temperatures. And just the effect of too warm water is the cause of bleaching.

In 2015, a group of American and Israeli scientists Confirmed The conclusions of their colleagues. They studied the influence of Oxybenzon on seven types of corals and found that this substance is toxic to each of them. Moreover, the higher the concentration of oxybenzone, the faster the process of bleaching went. Biologists came to the conclusion that sunscreen containing oxybenzone may pose a threat to the preservation of coral reefs.

It would seem what the concentration of a cream or lotion, washing off the skin of a tourist, on the world's scale can be? The same scientists considered that they are quite significant: according to them, about 14,000 tons of sunscreens are washed off from the skin of swimmers and divers every year around the world. Some of them settled on corals growing in popular tourist places. These data confirms and American chemical society. It was also noted that toxic substances from sunscreens cause damage not only to corals, but also to other sea inhabitants.

Sorbonne scientists who also conducted experiments and Confirmed The conclusions of their colleagues, even called on the EU authorities to join Hawaii and Thailand and prohibit the use of such Sanskrins in Europe. The UN also He thinksThat this is a fairly serious problem, and supports scientists in their concern. With her Solidarity and the US National Ocean Service.

US National Parks Service Calls Avoid sunscreen with components that can harm corals, even if you are not going to swim in the ocean. After all, as soon as you wash the cream in the shower, it will fall into the sewer, then - into underground or freshwater reservoirs, and already from there to the ocean.

Of course, many cosmetic companies immediately began to produce products marked “safe for coral”. But since this concept itself is not clearly regulated anywhere and is not regulated by any regulatory acts, in fact, how really is really safe, it remains on the conscience of the manufacturer: it is not obliged to conduct any tests. So such a mark may well be just a marketing move. Ecologists recommend not to believe the manufacturers for a word, but to carefully read the composition of the product.

At the same time, there are among scientists those who do not agree with the prohibitions of sunscreen creams. First of all, these are dermatologists. Specialists of the US National Society of the United States came to conclusion: Data in order to argue that sun protection with oxybenzone is so harmful to corallah, there are not enough studies, because the studies are carried out relatively recently and there are not so many of them. But the ban on the most, according to doctors, effective means can in the future lead to an increase in the number of diseases of the skin cancer.

US Association of Consumer Products for Health condemned The ban on sunscreen in Hawaii, as it also fears the negative consequences for human health. In addition, according to the association, this ban allows you to close your eyes to the real reasons for the extinction of corals.

Honored Professor of Australian University James Cook Terry Hughes claimsthat the problem of corals is not at all in sunscreen, but in climate change. He refers to his own studywhere it proves that cases of bleaching a large barrier reef exactly coincide with the periods when the water in the ocean was thermal (1998, 2002, 2016 and 2017). And this is precisely this, says Hughes, that harmed corals, and not a cream that washed off the skin of surfers. True, this does not refute the opinion of those researchers who believe that such pollution reduces the natural protection of corals and only aggravate the negative effect of too warm water. Hughes also criticizes the very American-Israeli group of scientists who conducted experiments on seven types of corals: in his opinion, their results are not representative, and research methods are not quite correct.

The good news is that discoloration is a reversible process, after it reefs can recover, but for this they need comfortable conditions and time. If the bleaching process lasts a long time and is repeated often, corals die.

By data UN, from 2008 to 2019, about 14% of corals died in the world (approximately 11,700 km²). Corals have been growing for millennia, so there is no hope that their population will be able to fully recover in any foreseeable future. Coral reefs cover only 0.2% of the seabed, while at the same time the most important ecosystem with the highest level of biodiversity in the world. 25% of the sea flora and fauna live in reefs, and if there are no corals, all these animals and plants will also be under the threat of death. In addition, corals serve as the most important natural protection for coastal cities, restraining the waves and reducing the danger of floods.

By forecasts UN programs on the environment, if global warming cannot be stopped by 2034, the discoloration of corals will become annual, and they will not have time to restore. And this means that if they cannot adapt to higher temperatures, our generation will find their complete extinction. Therefore, even despite the fact that scientists did not come to consensus whether sunscreen creams really have a significant negative impact on corals, it may be worthwhile to once again pay attention to the composition of the Zagar, so as not to aggravate this problem.

This is not for sure

What do our verdicts mean?

Read on the topic:

1. Interactive project on the Corals of the UN program on the environment
2. Big BArrier reef. The main miracle of Australia (Anton Ptushkin)