Coral reefs suffering from sunblock

Ingredients in sunblock that kills coral reefs

Sunblock ban imposed in Hawaii

The sea we all need to protect together

[해외특파원 1기 / 조준원 기자] During the summer season, people find themselves visiting the beach more often to swim and relax. Everyone always applies sunblock before swimming. However, research shows that sunblock, which protects our skin, ironically destroys coral reefs.

We often disregard the existence of coral reefs in the ocean as opposed to marine life. According to PubChem, oxybenzone and octinoxate chemical ingredients are well known to absorb UVB and UVA II rays, decreasing skin penetration of radiation. However, on the other hand, sunblock that contain these chemicals inhibits the growth of coral reef. The coral reef body continues to grow, but the shell does not grow due to the ingredients in the sunblock, so they die. In addition, coral reefs exposed to oxybenzone and octinoxate cause genetic mutations, causing bleaching and gradually losing its colour and dying. When coral reefs die, marine life has nowhere to hide, therefore losing their habitat.

The prevent coral reefs from becoming extinct, in May 2018, the Hawaii state legislature passed a law prohibiting the use of sunblock containing ingredients that destroy coral reefs in order to preserve marine life, such as the examples presented above. This law was first implemented in the beginning of 2021.

Leading the current trends of beauty, South Korea has been promoting ‘Clean Beauty’ products. The most popular sunblocks sold support the conservation of marine life such as the brands ‘RoundLab’ or ‘Dr. G’. Perhaps for this reason, more eco-friendly products are being released worldwide. Customers who are aware of the problem prefer sunblock made out of ‘clean’ ingredients.

Let’s check the ingredients of our sunblock before we visit the beach.

Sunblock is a protector to humans, but for marine animals, it is life-threatening.