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The long-awaited vacation in Hawaii has become a bit more complicated for Californians and other tropical vacation lovers who are spreading sunscreen on their pale skin between dips in the water-blue water.
in sunscreens from 2021, a move that will require visitors to more temperate climates like San Francisco to start using products that do not harm the environment.
Hawaii Gov David Ige signed this week a law banning the sale or distribution of sunscreens that contain oxybenzone and octinoxate, which have been associated with widespread damage to coral reefs.
"This is not only the first in the country, but the world's first legislation," said Sen. Mike Gabbard. , who introduced the bill. "Jurisdictions around the world will see this law as the gold standard, and they will seek to replicate it."
The Caribbean island of Bonaire is one of many places to do that. The Dutch municipality has heard about the Hawaii law and plans to adopt a similar ban.
Sunscreen manufacturers opposed the Hawaiian bill, as did some dermatologists who are worried about sunburn and skin cancer. But Gabbard said that protecting the marine ecosystem is of utmost importance to the Hawaii economy, which attracts 9 million tourists a year.
Corals are sprawling invertebrates that attach to the seabed and skeletal structures of each other.
The structures, or reefs, that they form protect the coasts from the waves and provide habitat for an incredible diversity of marine life.
Studies have shown that oxybenzone and octinoxate, which filter ultraviolet rays. and are commonly found in cream-based sun creams, causing bleaching in coral reefs. By changing the DNA in coral cells, chemicals cause starvation and cell death, according to research.
A study, published in the American journal Environmental Health Perspectives, showed that even small amounts of chemicals made coral algae susceptible to viral infection. The destruction or discoloration of algae – which has a symbiotic relationship with coral – is a knell for the entire structure.
Most of the world's reef systems are now threatened by a combination of global warming, industrial pollution Solar products, including lotions and lip balms, bring in about $ 1 billion a year nothing that in the United States, and many of them are used in tropical vacation places. But these products are not the only problem. According to marine scientists, microplastics, ocean acidification, warming ocean temperatures and overfishing are ruining the world's reef systems. If nothing is done, they say, 90% of the world's coral could die by 2050.
Up to 6000 tons of sunscreen a year end up in coral reefs in Places like Hawaii where people swim and dive, according to estimates from environmental groups and the World Trade Organization. In Maui alone, 55 gallons per day flow into coastal waters, according to the Hawaii Department of Lands and Natural Resources
which, combined with sewage and pesticide runoff, killed half of the coral reefs Islands in 2014 and 2015 Gabbard said:
This is also a problem elsewhere in the ecosystem. A team of chemists from the Swiss Agriculture Department recently discovered traces of ultraviolet filters commonly used in sunscreens of mountain lakes and rivers downstream of sewage treatment plants.
This indicates that the chemicals could be washed in the bathtubs. wells and evacuated from the treatment plants in the rivers. And the chemicals are bioaccumulative, which means that they are absorbed into the fish tissue and accumulate over time.
The ban, signed Tuesday, seems problematic for pale-skinned and sun-worshiping ecologists who like to dive. an aversion to carcinoma. But Mr Gabbard said that many companies already provide sunscreens that do not include the listed chemicals.
Once the ban comes into effect on January 1, 2021, exceptions will be made for patients with prescriptions. The law also excludes skin care products intended for use as cosmetics.
"We will not have solar police on the beaches of Waikiki," said Gabbard
"We applaud them and support what they do," said Rusty Kelly, director of the Coral Reef Alliance in Oakland, "but there is still much to be done."
The Consumer Healthcare Products Association argued that both chemicals are safe and complained that 70% sunscreens on the market.
"The health, safety and welfare of millions of Hawaiian residents and tourists have been severely compromised," said the association. "This irresponsible action will make it more difficult families to protect themselves from the harmful ultraviolet rays of the sun, and it is contrary to the many concerns expressed by doctors, dermatologists, and public health experts in Hawaii. "
Gabbard said that industry's concerns are not created
"There is already a whole cottage industry that makes safer products available to the public," he said. "I hope we can go back in 20 years and say that's when we turned the corner on pollution."
Peter Fimrite is a San Francisco Chronicle writer. Email: [email protected] Twitter: @pfimrite
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