Are you planning a visit to the beautiful state of Hawaii? Do you want to come home from your vacation looking like a sunburned tomato? No? Well, then you should do your research since Hawaii is banning certain sunscreens and you might end up getting yours confiscated (1).

Protecting your skin from harmful sunrays is undoubtedly important, especially since the extensive beach time can put you at high risk of sunburn and even skin cancer. Sunscreen has become one of scientists’ gifts to beach-bodies; offering a layer of protection against the abundant sunlight. Is it possible, however, that this aide is doing more harm than good?

What’s wrong with sunscreen?

Questions have been posed for years concerning not only sunscreen’s effectiveness to human health but also its consequences on the environment. Lathering up in a thick layer of chemicals and then washing it off in our ponds, lakes, rivers, and oceans for the fish and plant life to contend with turns out to be a truly unfortunate strategy. Hawaii has pegged chemical-filled sunscreen as a problem and is taking significant steps to eliminate the issue.

According to the New York Times, Hawaii is the first of America’s 50 states to pass a bill banning the sale of sunscreens that contain harmful chemicals damaging to coral reefs or marine life (2). The Times writes that this new legislation prohibits the distribution of sunscreens containing the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate as scientists have found these chemicals contribute to coral bleaching when washed off in the ocean. The Hawaii sunscreen bill now awaits the signature of the governor. The new rules will go into effect Jan. 1, 2021.

Is Sunscreen Killing the Environment?

Hawaii has set itself up to be the leading force of protection to our earth; against the damaging effects of the average sunscreens. Despite the fact that travelers are learning about the legislation, they tend to ignore or scoff at it, annoyed at the specifications and the inconvenience of having to select the exact right kind of sunscreen permitted. In addition, manufacturers of the offending sunscreen brands adamantly oppose the legislation, claiming that their product is not only approved by the FDA, but also vital in the prevention of skin cancers and sunburn (2). 

The fact of the matter remains, however, that approximately 14,000 tons of chemical-filled sunscreen is estimated to be washed into our oceans every year (2). The greatest damage discovered among popular reefs, has been found in both the Caribbean and, of course, Hawaii. At beaches like St. John, for instance, the daily swimmer count varies between 2000 and 5000, up to 6000 pounds of sunscreen is offered to the beach’s reefs and marine life every year (2). That is just at one beach. Consider the amounts deposited at other beaches!

According to Craig Downs, the executive director of the Haereticus Environmental Laboratory, “Hawaii’s reefs have been slowly dying over the past 20 years, and that death spiral has been accelerating with the impact of an El Niño-induced mass bleaching events and increased local pollution impacts from both tourism and development.” Downs goes on to explain that the legislation is an event brought about by masses up people, from local nurses and doctors to resort owners and airline workers, all in the effort to bring about the change needed to improve their reefs (2).

Conclusion

Banning certain sunscreens in Hawaii is not just some impulsive decision made by government officials, but rather a thought-out, well educated, state-wide effort made to improve ocean life and reestablish a place of health for earth. Hawaii has no plans to ban sunscreen altogether, of course, but rather is taking steps to ensure the sunscreen we use on our bodies is not harmful to the magnificent ocean treasures they take pride in.

Sources