[Coral-List] Hawaii bans sunscreens deemed harmful to coral reefs

Sun May 13 17:58:17 EDT 2018

Hello Doug and all,

I agree 100% that we must concentrate our efforts on the most serious threats to coral reefs – namely global climate change and a range of local issues from over-fishing, destructive fishing, coastal development and run-off etc etc. 

Currently – as outlined in the review - there is an on-going debate about the extent of damage/stress caused by sunscreen pollution, with different studies indicating levels of risk from minimal to significant. Despite the uncertainty and the fact that other threats are of greater magnitude, a precautionary approach for sunscreens is still justified. This need not/should not detract from action on climate change and the myriad other threats.

Cheers,

Liz

From: Douglas Fenner 
Sent: Sunday, May 13, 2018 1:00 AM
To: Emilie Johnsen 
Cc: Liz Wood ; coral list 
Subject: Re: [Coral-List] Hawaii bans sunscreens deemed harmful to coral reefs

      I’m glad as I’m sure many are, to see something that we can actually make progress on, to protect coral reefs.  Glad to see action taken.  What I worry about is whether this is a priority or not.  Getting something constructive done that helps reefs is great.  But we’d better be realistic, or we’re going to lose the world’s coral reef ecosystems.  I think we are in a time in which we have to do triage.  Triage is when a medical team is flooded with patients, they have to choose which to treat first.  They generally choose those that are in the worst condition for which they have a chance of saving their lives.  Those that can wait will have to.  It would be counter-productive to treat small scratches while patients are dying of bullet wounds.  Our patient (the world’s coral reef ecosystems) is dying, it is abundantly obvious.  We can concentrate our effort on scratches, and if we do our patient will die.  People are starting to say, “we’ve done all we can on climate change” implying further effort there is wasted.  The deniers and fossil fuel industry, plus the cost of action and inertia, have conspired and have won.  Congratulations deniers, you’ve won.  Meantime, the dive industry won’t speak up, and the world’s nations are offering too little too late, they aren’t doing what they promised, and they aren’t increasing their promises enough to avoid disaster.  This is a planetary emergency and fiddling while Rome burns isn’t going to save reef ecosystems or corals.  Are sunblock chemicals worth a lot of effort?  Yes if you have high value reefs that have huge numbers of tourists.  No if you have vast areas of reefs far from all but a few tourists.  And the vast majority of the world’s reefs are in the latter condition.  Do triage, and you find out that sunscreen chemicals are truly the scratch on the wrist, while global warming is the bullet that went into the heart (and things like overfishing, nutrients, sedimentation, and coral disease are next on almost everybody’s list).

       I think it is time to redouble efforts to get climate change under control.  It can be done, we’d better act fast because the deniers have successfully delayed action until it is almost impossible, and they’re still fighting tooth and nail (successfully) to save the trillions of dollars that go into their favorite fossil fuel companies.  Make no mistake about where the real threat is.  It isn’t in sunscreens (unless you have a reef that is tiny, high-value, and highly impacted by tourists).  How many reefs have been documented to have been killed by sunscreen?  (none that I know of.)  How many by mass coral bleaching?  (we’ve lost count.)  I say let’s get real and face the facts.  Sunscreens don’t threaten the world’s coral reef ecosystems.  Mass coral bleaching from global warming does, and so do several other things.  If we allow ourselves to be sidetracked by minor local things and spend effort on that instead of on the big issues, kiss coral reefs good-by.

Cheers, Doug  

On Sat, May 12, 2018 at 11:28 PM, Emilie Johnsen <emiliejohnsen2 at gmail.com> wrote:

  Liz,

  Thank you so much for providing that new report! I am a recent graduate of Nova Southeastern University's Oceanographic Center (Dania Beach, FL). Coincidental to the recent news, my capstone investigated the toxicological effects of commercial sunscreens on corals and other reef organisms in addition to a pilot study involving Coral Restoration Foundation's sunscreen exposure to A. cervicornis. There is a lot of information regarding sunscreen toxicity that the public (science community, even) does not know. I wish articles and social media posts would be more accurate... Anyway, below is the summary of my investigation (with the guidance of Dr. Esther Peters and Dr. Joshua Feingold) to add to that report:

  Based on the review of 40 studies involving the exposure of commercial sunscreens to various marine organisms:

     -  Chemical UV filters can be toxic, but it depends on many factors : species, individual health, environmental factors, and the UV filter being tested, among others (based on 13/40 studies). Additionally, toxicity depends on how much of the chemical is being exposed, how much is absorbed by the organism, and the organism's ability to expel and/or detoxify the toxicant. Whether or not there are any physicochemical reactions between chemical UV filters and seawater is poorly studied. Currently, their toxicity is only considered dose-dependent with influences from environmental conditions.

     -  Mineral UV filters are also considered toxic, but the reasoning is more complex. Based on 28/40 studies, mineral ZnO and TiO2 nanoparticle toxicity is not only dose-dependent like chemical UV filters, but their physicochemical effects in seawater also make them a threat to various marine life. These physicochemical reactions include dissociation of mineral oxides into free-metal ions, photoreactivity, and aggregation into sediments. In some cases, free Zn2+ and Ti2+ was considered more toxic, especially for marine phytoplankton. (Free metal ions can actually inhibit manganese uptake which is vital for phytoplankton growth!) Interestingly, in addition to the influence of environmental factors on mineral UV filter toxicity, particle size was also a huge factor. This is why many "reef-safe" brands will advertise the use of "non-nano" mineral UV filters. Metal oxide nanoparticles have toxic capabilities, but a couple studies indicate that non-nanoparticles ( > 100 nm) can actually be more toxic to certain filter feeders due to higher uptake concentration (D'Agata et al., 2014), while some crustaceans and fish struggle with bioavailability (Wong et al., 2010). Despite this, it does appear that--compared to chemical UV filters and mineral nanoparticles-- non-nano mineral UV filters are most promising to best reduce (albeit not completely eliminate) toxicity to marine organisms. 

  Furthermore, there are no current regulations that enforce the integrity of sunscreen advertisement claims. Many brands will claim themselves as "eco-friendly", but there is nothing but their word to actually back it up. (See the brand "Reef-Safe" as a perfect example.) I therefore applaud Hawaii in their efforts to ban certain sunscreen chemicals, however it is just the tip of the iceberg. Our oceans face a plethora of issues under the name of climate change, but we all must remember...chemical pollution is one of the hierarchal problems here, and it is disguised in many forms.

  Best,

  Emilie Johnsen

  Master's Recipient, 2018
  Nova Southeastern University's Halmos College of Natural Sciences and Oceanography

  On Mon, May 7, 2018 at 5:01 PM, Liz Wood <ewood at f2s.com> wrote:

    Dear listers,

    To add to the on-going debate about sunscreens I would like to draw your 
    attention to a briefing on this issue posted on the International Coral Reef 
    Initiative website in February 2018, prior to the implementation of the ban 
    in Hawaii.

    https://www.icriforum.org/sites/default/files/ICRI_Sunscreen.pdf

    Best regards,

    Liz Wood

    -----Original Message----- 
    From: Douglas Fenner
    Sent: Saturday, May 5, 2018 1:28 PM
    To: coral list
    Subject: [Coral-List] Hawaii bans sunscreens deemed harmful to coral reefs

    https://www.yahoo.com/news/hawaii-bans-sunscreens-deemed-harmful-054453351.html

    Open-access.

    Hawaii approves bill banning sunscreen believed to kill coral reefs.

    https://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2018/05/02/607765760/hawaii-approves-bill-banning-sunscreen-believed-to-kill-coral-reefs

    Open-access.

    No, your sunscreen isn't killing the world's coral reefs.

    https://mashable.com/2015/11/10/sunscreen-killing-coral-reefs/?utm_campaign=Mash-BD-Synd-Yahoo-Science-Full&utm_cid=Mash-BD-Synd-Yahoo-Science-Full#45AuyLkru5qH

    Open-access.

    Cheers, Doug

    -- 
    Douglas Fenner
    Contractor for NOAA NMFS Protected Species, and consultant
    PO Box 7390
    Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA

    New online open-access field guide to 300 coral species in Chagos, Indian
    Ocean
    http://chagosinformationportal.org/corals

    Even without El Nino, 2017 temperatures soared.

    http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/even-without-el-ni-o-2017-temperatures-still-soared?utm_campaign=news_weekly_2018-01-19&et_rid=17045989&et_cid=1800664

    Coral reefs are bleaching too frequently to recover
    https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/the-global-scourge-on-coral-reefs/549713/?utm_source=atlfb

    How to save the "tropical rainforests" of the ocean
    https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/01/09/coral-reefs/?tid=ss_tw-bottom&utm_term=.80ce291c546b
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    _______________________________________________
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-- 

Douglas Fenner
Contractor for NOAA NMFS Protected Species, and consultant

PO Box 7390
Pago Pago, American Samoa 96799  USA

New online open-access field guide to 300 coral species in Chagos, Indian Ocean
http://chagosinformationportal.org/corals

Even without El Nino, 2017 temperatures soared. 

http://www.sciencemag.org/news/2018/01/even-without-el-ni-o-2017-temperatures-still-soared?utm_campaign=news_weekly_2018-01-19&et_rid=17045989&et_cid=1800664

Coral reefs are bleaching too frequently to recover
https://www.theatlantic.com/science/archive/2018/01/the-global-scourge-on-coral-reefs/549713/?utm_source=atlfb

How to save the "tropical rainforests" of the ocean
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/theworldpost/wp/2018/01/09/coral-reefs/?tid=ss_tw-bottom&utm_term=.80ce291c546b