The measure, which the City Commission approved Tuesday in a 6-to-1 vote, will ban sales of sunscreens containing the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate. The legislation will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2021.“Our coral has been under attack by a number of stressors,” Mayor Teri Johnston said. “We just thought if there was one thing we could do, to take one of the stressors away, it was our responsibility to do so.”Over the last year, the state of Hawaii and the Western Pacific nation of Palau have also restricted sunscreen sales to protect the otherworldly coral reefs. (Parts of Mexico also ban non-biodegradable sunscreen.) Hawaii’s law bans the same chemicals as Key West’s, and takes effect on the same date. In Palau, 10 chemicals are prohibited, a list that could grow.Ms. Johnston said that people with medical prescriptions would be exempt from the ban, and that the first offense would be met with a warning. The second offense would incur fines that are still to be determined. She added that the reef was crucial to both the environment and the tourism driven local economy.But some dermatologists and trade groups have opposed the bans, arguing that more research is necessary and that banning sunscreen could lead to higher skin cancer rates. Sunscreen manufacturers have also disputed the claims about the dangers to coral reefs.

This article relates to environmental science because coral reefs are becoming such a huge environmental issue that drastic changes have to be taken. But it can also be a positive thing because it shows how United States is ready to make a change and help coral reefs for real this time. It might seem stupid for some but I think that if we follow this small change it can help tremendously because if you think about this way, how many people go into the ocean? There so many people that simply go to certain location because of the beaches. Due to the popularity of the location, if we ban certain sunscreens it cause for a huge impact on the coral reefs health. This makes me have hope for better solutions in the future. I think that as long as we make changes to help the coral reefs we can someday reach our goal.