Research leads to first nationwide sunscreen chemicals ban in Palau

Research leads to first nationwide sunscreen chemicals ban in Palau

6 years ago
Anonymous $L9wC17otzH

https://phys.org/news/2018-11-nationwide-sunscreen-chemicals-palau.html

Palau's Responsible Tourism Education Act of 2018, which takes effect in 2020, prohibits use of environmental pollutants that threaten juvenile stages of many wildlife species, including corals, fish and microalgae. The banned substances contain sun protection factor (SPF) chemicals used in sunscreen lotions or fragrances that absorb ultraviolet sunlight. These include oxybenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, 4-methyl-benzylidene camphor, and parabens. The four parabens, triclosan and phenoxyethanol are antimicrobial preservatives also used in shampoos, moisturizers, liquid soaps, and hair conditioners.

The ban follows a similar move in Hawaii earlier this year. On May 4, the Hawaii legislature banned oxybenzone (BP3) beginning in 2021 in an attempt to prevent coral bleaching, a condition by which corals expel the algae (zooxanthellae) living in their tissues causing the coral to turn completely white.