Sunscreen And The Reef – Choose Carefully

Queensland boasts the greatest reef on the planet – the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately, Queensland also boasts the highest rate of skin cancer in the world.

As a Reef lover, we want to protect the Reef but we also want to protect ourselves from the risk of skin cancer.

The absolute best way to protect one’s self from the harmful rays of the sun is to cover up. There are many options available; lycra suits (stinger suits), rashies and wetsuits to name just a few.

But these suits are not always available and when worn, rarely protect the head and hands.

So, the next best option for us is sunscreen, but perhaps not the best option for the Reef.

Sunscreens work by providing either a physical barrier or a chemical barrier from the sun’s harmful rays. Unfortunately, many of these chemicals are harmful to many Reef animals including corals. According to several research studies, it is estimated we leave behind up to 14,000 tons of sunscreen in the world’s oceans every year.

What to do?

While no sunscreen is completely safe for coral and marine life, there are choices we can make to protect ourselves while minimizing the harm to the reef.

We must choose our sunscreen carefully by checking the ingredients and looking for ingredients that are safe - for both us and the reef.

What to avoid:
Oxybenzone (also known as benzophenone-3), octinoxate (also known as octyl methoxycinnamate) and octocrylene.
Parabens (butylparaben, methylparaben, ethylparaben, benyzleparaben and propylparaben)
Cinnamates (Octyl methoxycinnamate and Cinoxate)
Homosalate and octisalate
Nanoparticles are so small, they can be absorbed by coral.

Many of these chemicals have been banned in several tropical regions around the world.

What to look for:

Zinc oxide and/or Titanium dioxide sunscreens are mineral sunscreens. These physically block the sun’s rays and have not been shown harmful to the reefs. They are biodegradable and hypo-allergenic.
“Non-nano” refers to particles larger than 100 nanometres and is considered safe.
Water-resistant sunscreen helps keep the product on your skin and not in the sea.
Wait at least 15 minutes after applying your sunscreen before entering the water so that your skin can absorb it and it won’t wash right off.

It is our responsibility to do what we can to safeguard the health of the reefs that we love and need. How we act in the water and the products we introduce to it are our opportunity to do just that.

Contributed with thanks to Whitsunday Conservation Council.

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