Common Component of Many Sunscreens May Hasten Corals’ Demise

Excerpt:  “Up to 6,000 tons of sunscreen wash through U.S. reef areas every year. Scientists have known for some time that oxybenzone, an organic compound found in many sunscreens, can damage corals. As a result, sunscreens with this compound have been banned in the U.S. Virgin Islands and Hawaii, the island nation of Palau, and Bonaire, an island municipality of the Netherlands, among other places. … The mechanisms by which oxybenzone does harm have largely remained a mystery, making it difficult to ensure that sunscreen components proposed as alternatives are truly safer for corals.”

News Release