I confess, I don’t give a lot of thought to the ingredients in my toiletries. That changed when we were preparing for our recent trip to Belize. Our tour company provided explicit guidelines for biodegradable products including reef safe sunscreen. I wasn’t prepared for how difficult it was to get my hands on some.
Reef Safe Sunscreen
I try to avoid wearing sunscreen whenever possible, preferring to wear sun hats and lightweight long-sleeved t-shirts. I hate the goopy feel of sunscreen and I know there are dubious ingredients in many. But when you’re on the beach or snorkeling in the tropics, you’re going to need some serious sun protection.
In our tour operator’s packing guidelines, we were directed to get reef safe sunscreen. This is sunscreen without ingredients that are suspected to contribute to coral bleaching and other adverse affects to sea life. The chemical oxybenzone is the toxic culprit. According to research pointed to in this Washington Post report, oxybenzone is found in more than 3,500 sunscreen products worldwide. It’s in all of the mainstream brands you’d find on your local drug store shelves.
The Post article sites this startling quote from one researcher, (Craig Downs) – “We have lost at least 80 percent of the coral reefs in the Caribbean. Any small effort to reduce oxybenzone pollution could mean that a coral reef survives a long, hot summer, or that a degraded area recovers.”
Coral reefs are integral to the support of thousands of fish species and play a role in protecting shorelines from erosion. The U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration states, “Coral reefs are some of the most diverse and valuable ecosystems on Earth.”
Just because it says “reef safe” doesn’t mean it is
The full list of sunscreen ingredients to avoid in terms of protecting the reef include PABA, octinoxate, oxybenzone, 4-methylbenzylidene camphor and the preservative butylparaben.
Turns out, despite the label, this sunscreen contains unsafe ingredients.
Not realizing how difficult it would be to purchase reef safe sunscreen in Winnipeg in the middle of winter, I left shopping for it too late. My normal go-to spot would have been Mountain Equipment Coop, but it was out of inventory in February. Nothing I could purchase online would arrive in time for our trip. I ended up on a massive hunt. I thought I had been successful when I found Tropical Seas Reef Safe by Beach Buff sunscreen at a local dive shop. However, after bringing it home and reading the fine print ingredients, I found it contained octinoxate, octisalate and oxybenzone.
What?
Turns out there are no regulations when it comes to labeling sunscreen “reef safe” so you need to read ingredients carefully. Some brands contend that the amount of the toxic ingredients are at a “safe level.” I didn’t want to take the chance after going to all this trouble.
After calling every health food and organic shop in the city, I finally found a product that had none of the prohibited ingredients: Goddess Garden Organics Sunny Body 30 SPF sunscreen.
How did Sunny Body do?
No harmful ingredients, non-goopy, effective. Three for the win!
Not being a fan of how sunscreen feels on the skin, this product was not too bad on that account. The store where I found it just had the spray pump version, but this actually worked out well. It was fairly liquid, which made it easier to rub in. I was worried that it would leave a white film on the skin as some online reviews of other organic sunscreens reported, but it actually blended in very well. It did feel a bit tacky to the touch initially, but this diminished in a short amount of time. It also has a very light scent that also disappears quickly. Pretty good!
We didn’t experience full sun every day on our trip so I wouldn’t say that we really put this sunscreen to the test. However, the sunny days we used it, it was effective. No sun burning.
Do your sunscreen research
Obviously regardless of where we’re using sunscreen, we should be concerned about the health and environmental effects of its ingredients. When visiting tropical destinations, though (where there is more fragile water and waste treatment infrastructure and we are in close contact with the ocean’s ecosystem) making an organic, reef safe choice seems even more important.
The Environmental Working Group (EWG) lists a number of environmentally safe sunscreens to help with your research.
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Other threats such as coastal pollution, overfishing, and sedimentation are probably a greater threat to coral reefs than sunscreen. We only have a shot at saving coral reefs if major change in behavior happens at the individual and collective levels.
Yes, it’s my understanding that there are many factors at play. The amount of time I spent trying to source reef-safe sunscreen that would work for me is a drop in the bucket in terms of all that needs to be done.
Next, lets see any of the proponents of safe sunscreens show any damage done by the effective brands. The only study that has shown suncreen damaging coral was one where they tied plastic bags around coral heads and then squirted sunscreen inside where the chemicals couldn t disperse.
I really wish the whole area of safe sunscreens (for body and environment) would be clearer. Doing the “right” thing gets complicated.
Chemicals contained in sunscreen can be harmful to the reef, but so are the compounds contained in the waste of hundreds of other products people use every day.
I agree. There are many other products we should all be aware of in addition to sunscreen.
Chemicals contained in sunscreen can be harmful to the reef, but so are the compounds contained in the waste of hundreds of other products people use every day.
Yes, I’m sure you are right and it’s maddening that it is so complicated for consumers to make safe choices.
I have never considered this aspect of sunscreen ingredients. I will be looking at ingredients more closely now.
I was the same, Donna. I had no idea. Glad I was able to find an alternative that worked.
[…] Ingredients in many sunscreens may be harming ocean life, but finding a sunscreen labeled "reef safe" may not be the solution you think it is. […]