Sunscreen's efects from beach to bleach

BY ASHLEY HUANG AND LILLY WU

Despite its obvious benefits in preventing sunburn, skin cancer and premature aging, modern sunscreen is often released into marine ecosystems, where it can take a detrimental toll on marine life.

Oxybenzone is found in 80 percent of chemical sunscreens. It not only poses a danger to marine life but is also the most frequently detected sunscreen chemical in natural waters. It is known to prevent skin aging; however, it dissolves easily in water and does not readily biodegrade.

bigger organisms like fish and other marine animals that live close to the coast.”

People may not know which ingredients are harmful or harmless to them and the environment.

One of oxybenzone’s most devastating forms of destruction is coral bleaching in hard corals, otherwise referred to as reef-building corals, which grow in colonies. Many forms of marine life depend on coral reefs for food and shelter, and any damage from coral bleaching causes a major decline in biodiversity.

Jason Lee, Biology and physiology teacher

Moreover, oxybenzone often causes DNA damage to other marine life, which disrupts an organism’s endocrine system — an internal system responsible for relaying hormones, many people.

“Sunscreen is usually diluted in the water, where it has an effect on small organisms like algae in the corals or the embryos of invertebrates like sea urchins,” said Julie Pourtois, a fourth-year Ph.D. student in Stanford University’s Hopkins Marine Station. “Over time, we may start to see effects on

“People may not know which ingredients are harmful or harmless to them and the environment,” biology and physiology teacher Jason Lee said. “Everyone votes with their dollar, so when you’re buying chemical sunscreens, you are telling companies that this is what the customers want.” Some states have already taken action in an attempt to limit