Its beach season and who doesn’t love the beach? The sun, the sand, the ocean breeze, the waves, it’s relaxing and a great summer adventure. We get up in the morning and gather up our beach chairs, blankets, food and drinks, games, hats, and don’t forget the sunscreen. We sit on the beach and enjoy the waves splashing at our feet while reading the latest novel and just melt into the sand as we soak up the sun’s hot rays while hoping to get a glimpse of a passing dolphin. Millions of us go to our beaches in the United States each year and use this wonderful aquatic resource for our enjoyment.
What if I told you we were killing our oceans by loving this resource too much? What if I told you that by going to the beach we were jeopardizing one of the greatest ecosystems on our planet? One product alone is responsible for dumping tons of chemicals into our oceans every year. This product is a contributing factor in the destruction of our coral reefs and poisons other aquatic life as well. According to NOAA coral, mussles, sea urchins, fish, and dolphins are all affected by the harmful chemicals contained in sunscreen. Chemicals in sunscreen are not the only pollutant affecting our coral reefs, NOAA states that “climate change, unsustainable fishing, land-based pollution, coastal development, disease, and invasive species” also affect our coral reef ecosystems. However the issue with sunscreen has gotten little attention and is one of the easiest to correct. It is not just sunscreen products that contain these harmful chemicals either. Other skin care products contain them as well. NOAA has identified 3,500 products that contain these chemicals. So what are these chemicals?
Here is a list of chemical ingredients that the NOAA has deemed to be harmful to our oceans:
Oxybenzone, or BP-3
Benzophenone-2 or BP-2
Benzophenone-1
Benzophenone-8
OD-PABA
4-Methylbenzylidene camphor
3-Benzylidene camphor
Nano-Titanium dioxide
Nano-Zinc oxide
In the following posts we are going to take a look at how these chemicals are affecting our marine life and what we can do to have our cake and eat it too. I for one do not want to stop our beach adventures my family. It is one of the most relaxing weeks of the year. I do however, want to figure out how to still enjoy the ocean without killing it.
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