Does Sun Screen Kill Coral Reef?

[AfterDark]

More dive travel to NE would reduce the overall stress put on the coral reefs, just saying..sacrafices must be made how much do you want to give?

 

[Insta-Gator]

If you're diving in warm waters, wear a thin wetsuit or a skin to protect you from the sun. Won't need sun screen. Don't forget a hat for SI time.

 

[AfterDark]

Stop it. Do you mean I should wear my lycra suit on the beach and around town? Who puts sunscreen on before going diving? Snorkeling yes protect yourself suit, SS, whatever. STM please

 

[RonFrank]

I use sunscreen multiple times times a day when in the sun diving. I may be covered while diving but still use it during SI's. Lots of divers strip out of their wetsuits during SI's to enjoy the sun, and dry out there wetsuit. Lets not pretend that divers don't use sunscreen as they do. Is this a bad thing? Highly unlikely....but I will buy environmental products when possible. Let's face it, given the choice between a burn and using a non environmental product I will be soaking up that toxic sunscreen big time!

 

[Hank49]

It would be pretty easy to figure out if it does kill it. Set up a bioassay and see. Try many brands with different species of coral as there probably is some variation in toxicity and tolerance.

 

[ScubaSteve]

It would be pretty easy to figure out if it does kill it. Set up a bioassay and see. Try many brands with different species of coral as there probably is some variation in toxicity and tolerance.

But if you are going to do something like that, you need to make sure you properly proportion the sunscreen to the amount of water based on the size of the ocean and your sample size.

 

[Hank49]

But if you are going to do something like that, you need to make sure you properly proportion the sunscreen to the amount of water based on the size of the ocean and your sample size.

It would be a long term study for sure. Yes, you would have to set up aquariums and test at different part per million dosages. Also exposure time could be a factor. Different brands of sunscreen would likely have different effects and, different coral species could be more tolerant than others.

I have a friend that used to work for a biomonitoring company in the US. He grew 5 different aquatic organisms that were exposed to 100% raw discharge from whatever factory or company was being tested. If the animal died, measures were taken against the offending company.
In this case it would be like squirting a half tube of Coppertone into a 10 gallon aquarium of cultured (not taken from the wild) coral.

 

[dmoore19]

You could begin with a LC50 test. Lots of things are tested that way. There may be information about the testing of sunscreens available. I haven't looked. The results are generally reported in kill rates at different concentrations. Since the LC stands for Lethal Concentration.

OSH Answers: What is an LD50 and LC50

 

[driftwood]

I'm willing to bet poor buoyancy is going to kill more coral than sunscreen.

My guess would be u/w camera rentals cause the most damage.

 

[hqduong]

It would be pretty easy to figure out if it does kill it. Set up a bioassay and see. Try many brands with different species of coral as there probably is some variation in toxicity and tolerance.

The study didn't show a direct killing of coral by the sunscreen. What I understood was that it allowed viruses to spread rapidly through the coral.