Moulite, M. (2018, July 09). Is Your Sunscreen Killing Coral Reefs? Retrieved July 17, 2018, from https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/09/health/hawaii-sunscreen-ban-questions/index.html

Hawaii will ban the sale and distribution of sunscreen containing oxybenzone and octinoxate in January 2021. The American Academy of Dermatology Association claims that it has not been proven that those ingredients are dangerous to humans; however, the Environmental Working Group claims that those ingredients may cause hormone disruptions and allergic skin reactions. States farther from coral reefs will most likely not ban those ingredients in sunscreen because they are too far to make a large impact on coral reefs, but a sewage plume or water from a swimming area can flow downstream and flow into coastal water and spread.

Coral reefs protect beaches from erosion and support biodiversity, and oxybenzone and octinoxate cause bleaching, deformities, DNA damage, and death in coral. Not only are these ingredients a threat to coral reefs which are an important part of the environment, they are also a threat to many sea creatures. They are found at toxic levels in fish, sea turtle eggs, algae, dolphins, oysters, crayfish, and mussels. These chemicals are having a harmful effect on the environment, and Hawaii’s ban of them is a large step to stop some of the human damage to the environment.