Could sunscreen be destroying our coral reefs? Hawaii lawmakers say yes

See BS ^ | 5/02/18 | CHRISTOPHER BRITO

[Libloather]

Hawaii is set to become the first state to ban the sale of sunscreens containing chemicals believed to be harmful to the environment. State lawmakers passed a bill Tuesday that prohibits the sale and distribution of over-the-counter sunscreens containing oxybenzone or octinoxate, two chemicals that have been found to "cause genetic damage to coral and other marine organisms."

"These chemicals have also been shown to degrade corals' resiliency and ability to adjust to climate change factors and inhibit recruitment of new corals," the bill reads.

The contamination is "constantly refreshed and renewed everyday" by swimmers and beachgoers, according to the bill. A 2015 scientific paper reports up to 14,000 tons of sunscreen gets released into coral reefs each year.

[goodnesswins]

Well...word is people at the equator do NOT get skin cancer at rates of those in North America...Seems Vitamin D probably plays a role. Cover up with sunscreen....block Vitamin D.

[rfp1234]

“...inhibit recruitment of new corals”?
Just reinstate the coral draft.

[smokingfrog]

environments, Octinoxate can reach more than 10 parts per billion. Along the west coast of Maui in 2015, Hawaii, 11 coral reefs sites that were sampled had octinoxate concentrations from 6.9 parts per trillion to 1,516 parts per trillion.

http://www.haereticus-lab.org/octinoxate/

[Gay State Conservative]

IMO it's tourists that are destroying those coral reefs.Let's see if the state bans out-of-staters from entering.

[CJ Wolf]

If its doing genetic modifications to the reefs in those parts per trillion, imagine what it does lathered on your skin daily and baked in by the sun.

[Yaelle]

They are really bad for us as well and they get right into your bloodstream through your skin. Don’t put much on your body you wouldn’t put in your mouth.

[Ronaldus Magnus III]

Warning Warning Will Robinson!!!

[wgmalabama]

Fat sweating native Hawaiians cause coral reef damage. Break out the Zyklon B. Oh noooooooo. I lost.

[cpdiii]

Liberal environmentalists are insane. Ocean currents sweep past Hawaii moving many cubic miles of water every day. The concentrations of sunscreen on the reefs would be magnitudes below minuscule. Perhaps they could be significant in a small bay with a small outlet. However, is the supposed contaminate been proven to be a contaminant? If they are a contaminant what level is needed to cause harm?

[catnipman]

14,000 tons of sunscreen gets released into coral reefs each year = 28,000,000 pounds = 448,000,000

say the average tube of sunscreen contains 3 ounces

that would mean nearly 150,000,000 entire tubes of sunscreen a year are released into coral reefs.

anyone believe that?

[sheana]

I don’t like the feel of sunscreen. I use it if I remember and am going to be out in the sun for hours but as soon as I’m in I have to shower to get it off. The feel just totally bugs me. I won’t buy face makeup with spf in it either. Feels weird.

[smokingfrog]

It’s hard to believe that 6.9 parts per trillion could even be measured accurately.

[BobL]

I wonder if they checked with the resort owners, or the local mayors where those resorts are based. There are MANY, MANY, places both throughout the US and the rest of the world where they really don’t care if you wear lotion on the beach...

[Truthoverpower]

There’s hardly any coral in Hawaii
The islands drop off precipitously
There is a bit here and there right on the coast but that’s it
Also the ocean there is VERY violent and powerful and takes out and replaces giant beaches every year
So this is complete bullcrap by liberal pantywaists and will be ignored by surfers
If you want nice coral reefs. Calm tropical ocean. It’s the carribean
Hands down
Know both well

[Rastus]

That massive BP oil leak? The Exxon Valdez? Cleaned by the ocean in short order. You don’t hear a word about any lingering problems from BP. Yeah, partially because it happened during King Barry’s reign and nothing bad happened in those eight years. But mainly because the ocean is the best filter and cleaner there is.

[acapesket]

Umm.. Excuse me.
That is “DANGER, DANGER.. WILL ROBINSON”!!
Just sayin :)

[Karliner]

Cue the, “Not this sh*t again” meme.

[KJC1]

14,000 tons of sunscreen gets released into coral reefs each year = 28,000,000 pounds = 448,000,000 say the average tube of sunscreen contains 3 ounces that would mean nearly 150,000,000 entire tubes of sunscreen a year are released into coral reefs. anyone believe that?

I don't believe it at all. People have worn sunscreen, and sun tan oils, etc, for a LONG time.

Does sunscreen float or sink...not sure LOL.

And one last point: lots of tourists who visit never even go in the ocean. They stay on land, go out on boats, or use the pools at their hotels.

I could be wrong but this sounds like a big heaping dish of liberal BS.

[vpintheak]

Dang whitey killing everything again!

[logi_cal869]

I’d like to see the scientific paper which outlines how the Pacific Ocean dilutes nuclear meltdown fissile products but doesn’t dilute the chemicals in sunscreen...