Does Sun Screen Kill Coral Reef?

Please register or login

Welcome to ScubaBoard, the world's largest scuba diving community. Registration is not required to read the forums, but we encourage you to join. Joining has its benefits and enables you to participate in the discussions.

Benefits of registering include

  • Ability to post and comment on topics and discussions.
  • A Free photo gallery to share your dive photos with the world.
  • You can make this box go away

Joining is quick and easy. Log in or Register now!

hqduong

Contributor
Messages
101
Reaction score
3
Location
Saratoga, CA
# of dives
200 - 499
I'm all for saving and preserving our environment, but I want to make sure I have sound advice rather than following something because someone has says so because they heard it from someone else.

It sounds like there was only one study done and national Geographic picked it up and now it's fact.
Swimmers' Sunscreen Killing Off Coral

This article seems to be more skeptical:
Is Your Sunscreen Killing Corals?

Opinions and thoughts??
 
I'd believe that divers wearing sunscreen could damage coral. I'd also believe though that it would have almost no effect when compared to run-off, global warming etc that is far more likely to cause the end of coral reefs.
 
While the conditions of the study are questionable it does not hurt to use an environmentally friendly product like badger.

I can not jump to the conclusion we are going to lose 10% of the reefs based on such a limited study. For example are swimmers in the Keys damaging the reefs by swimming off the shore which is approx 5 miles from the reef? Are divers who wear sunscreen that has been applied an hour before reaching a dive site really saturating the area? If this is such a big issue why do we not see evidence of the issue in high traffic areas like Cozumel, and Key Largo?

I will be more environmentally aware of the sunscreen I choose, but this study does not seem very well conducted.
 
Still, you wouldn't want to contribute if it did even a small bit of damage. One study does not mean fact, though. Science is based on replicating studies. However, the study does make some pretty serious and extreme conclusions.

Lucky for me, I don't have to worry about it, as I dive in cold water with protection all around.
 
There you go, which do you want, skin cancer or coral reefs? A very simple choice. Some people will believe anything.
 
Wiki:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ocean

The area of the World Ocean is 361 million square kilometres (139 million square miles). Its volume is approximately 1.3 billion cubic kilometres (310 million cu mi). This can be thought of as a cube of water with an edge length of 1,111 kilometres (690 mi).

Take that for what it is worth because of the source but think of it this way: if it is even close, how much lotion would it take to saturate the oceans to the point that we'll kill all the coral? As others have said, I am sure that we can use this study as a push towards using more eco friendly items but I believe Nat.Geo. was being rather dramatic.
 
I guess farting contributes to making the hole in the ozone layer larger
 
reefsafesuncare.com. This outfit has products that are, like they say, reef safe. I don't own the company, don't work for them, don't sell the stuff, and no other commercial relationship with them at all. But I am concerned about skin cancer (I am a 58 year old bladder cancer survivor and don't need to go there again) AND not hurting the fragile playground that I live to visit, our coral reefs. They have sunscreens and lots of other stuff you put on skin that might not get washed off before going in the ocean. My wife and I use their products, and like them. You might , too.
DivemasterDennis
 
I suppose that if you poured 15 thousand tons of sunscreen on a reef it would have an effect.
 
https://www.shearwater.com/products/perdix-ai/

Back
Top Bottom