Feeling the burn

ACOLLEAGUE ENTERED the newsroom Monday morning, displaying for all to see what appeared to be a severe sunburn. He’d taken his family paddling on the Buffalo National River over the weekend, he said, but neglected to bring sunscreen.

There aren’t many shopping venues in that part of the Natural State, but it’s possible to find sunscreen at one of the area outfitters. Apparently our colleague, for whatever reason, didn’t take advantage of the product’s availability.

That’s going to change in Hawaii, where major sunscreen brands may soon have to revamp their products or stop selling them there. At least 70 percent of sunscreens on the market will be affected.

According to the

Hawaii lawmakers passed legislation in May that would ban skin-care companies from selling and distributing sunscreens on the islands that contain two chemicals considered to be damaging to coral reefs.

The bill is opposed by various companies and business associations and some dermatologists, who worry that the ban may discourage people from wearing sunscreen—a proven defense from exposure to UV radiation from the sun, which can cause skin cancer.

Gov. David Ige is expected to sign the bill, which declares that the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate “have significant harmful impacts on Hawaii’s marine environment and residing ecosystems” when sunscreen containing them inevitably washes off the skin of bathers and swimmers. Therefore, it should be eliminated from store shelves.

Opposers are fighting back. Jay Sirois, director of regulatory affairs for an association that represents sunscreen manufacturers, recently told NPR: “We’re taking away a product, or products … that have been shown over the course of time to be safe and effective” against the harmful effects of the sun.

Still, there’s plenty of time for Hawaiian residents and visitors to guard against the painful fate of our charred colleague by stocking up. The proposed law doesn’t go into effect in 2021.