Key West bans some sunscreens to protect coral
KEY WEST, Fla. — Soon, beachgoers won’t be able to buy certain top-selling sunscreens in parts of the Florida Keys.
The Key West City Commission voted last week to ban the sale sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate, two chemicals that have been shown to damage coral reefs, beginning in January 2021 Key West is taking a cue from Hawaii, which became the first state to pass a similar ban.
“To me, this is a pretty black-and-white issue,” Key West Mayor Teri Johnston said ahead of the vote. “There are thousands of sunscreens out there, and we have one reef.”
Although sunscreen brands such as Banana Boat and Hawaiian Tropic sell some products without oxybenzone and octinoxate, many on store shelves contain those chemicals.
For years, oxybenzone and octinoxate have been used to protect people’s skin from ultraviolet radiation, but some research has shown that skin-care products containing these chemicals can wash away from the skin during swimming or bathing and seep into the water, causing damage to coral reefs.
Johnston said that the Great Florida Reef, the largest in the continental U.S., is vital to the tourist town both environmentally and economically. She said that leading up to the vote, documentation was presented on both sides of the debate, but it seemed to her that there were adequate nontoxic sunscreens that would protect marine life as well as people’s skin.
Johnston said of the ban, “I hope it will make consumers more aware and responsible for their actions.”
The goal, she said, is for people to “flip over their sunscreens and look at the ingredients and make wise choices for themselves and their families.”
Last summer, Hawaii passed legislation banning skincare companies from selling and distributing sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate on the islands. The bill was opposed by various companies and business associations and even some dermatologists, who worried that it might discourage people from wearing sunscreen. Still, Democratic Gov. David Ige signed the bill.
The U.S. Geological Survey has called America’s coral reefs “imperiled national treasures,” stating that the limestone structures under the sea are “dying at alarming rates.”
That’s a problem for humans as well as marine animals because, in addition to protecting sea creatures, coral reefs provide people with food, medication and tourism jobs.
The National Park Service has urged people to take a “reef friendly” approach to sunscreen shopping by buying skin-care products that contain titanium oxide or zinc oxide, which are considered natural alternatives to the two chemicals that will be banned from sale in Key West.
“Sunscreens are among the products we are encouraged to use liberally to protect ourselves from the sun’s harmful rays. However, researchers are finding that while protecting humans, some compounds in many sunscreens can harm the coral on our reefs,” the National Park Service says. “Researchers testing the effects of sunscreen on corals explain that chemicals in sunscreen can awaken coral viruses. The coral then becomes sick and expel their life-giving algae. Without these algae, the coral ‘bleaches’ (turns white), and often dies.”