PARIS: New research by Israeli-American researchers has shown that sunscreen is destroying the planet’s corals and coral reefs.
According to the collaborative study, oxybenzone – a common chemical found in popular sunscreen brands that protects the wearer from the harmful effects of UV rays – is irreversibly damaging the genetic structure of the coral and turning it brittle and white.
Sunscreen is today promoted as the best way to keep skin cancer at bay while in the sun, but a joint study by Tel Aviv University, Ben Gurion University of the Negev, Haereticus Environmental Laboratory in Virginia, US National Aquarium, US National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration, and other American labs, now shows that it is toxic to undersea ecosystems.
“The chemical, oxybenzone (benzophenone-3), is found in more than 3,500 sunscreen products worldwide, including mascara, lipstick and shampoo. It pollutes coral reefs via swimmers who wear sunscreen or wastewater discharges from municipal sewage outfalls [after sunscreen is washed off in a shower] and coastal septic systems,” said Dr. Omri Bronstein of TAU’s Department of Zoology, one of the principal researchers.
“We found the lowest concentration to see a toxicity effect was 62 parts per trillion — equivalent to a drop of water in six and a half Olympic-sized swimming pools.”
The study — recently published in the journal, Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology – showed that when oxybenzone was released into the water, the coral’s genetic structure was damaged and it turned brittle and white.
