This is the 3rd post in our beach series focusing on the effects of sunscreen on our marine life. In the last post we looked at the chemical ingredients in sunscreen that are affecting our marine life and looked at how these are entering our oceans. We also stated that it only takes a very small amount of these chemicals to do harm to our marine life. So what exactly are these chemicals doing to our marine life? According to a study completed by the International Coral Reef Initiative titled “Impacts of Sunscreens on Coral Reefs” there are three areas of concern related to coral reefs. The bleaching of hard corals, damage and deformation to coral larvae, and damage to coral DNA and reproductive success.
Coral bleaching is when the algae living in coral (called zooxanthellae) is expelled turning the coral white. The coral may not necessarily die when this happens but it will be severely stressed. If conditions do not improve they will be subject to mortality.
When coral larvae are released they swim to the surface and float there for a period of time before settling back down to the ocean floor to attach themselves to something solid and begin to grow. They will form an outer skeleton and start to build on the reef. The chemicals in sunscreen, however, disrupt these events. In the ICRI study it was found that the chemicals in sunscreen caused the larvae to stop swimming, change shape, and ultimately die. These chemicals also caused the coral to turn into skeleton at the wrong stage disrupting their life cycle. The chemicals also damaged the corals DNA which affects its life span and its immune system. These DNA changes also affect its ability to reproduce as well.
The damage to our coral reefs from the chemicals used in sunscreen and other beauty products is real and the evidence is clear. The chemicals disrupt the life cycle of coral and stress the coral making it more susceptible to other factors like warmer water and other pollution. In the next post we will take a look at the effects sunscreen chemicals have on other aquatic life in our oceans.
댓글