There are 410,000 acres of living reef edging Hawaii’s main islands — that adds up to an ecosystem larger than the landmass of Oahu. And due largely to our mid-Pacific isolation, more than 1,250 unique species of marine life are found only here.
While also protecting the shoreline from wave and sand erosion, our reef is a magnet for snorkelers, divers and others seeking an up-close glimpse of underwater beauty. The coral at its center is truly one of nature’s gifts to Hawaii. And this animal is a gift that keeps on giving as it grows —unless, of course, we fail to protect it.
Senate Bill 2571 would help protect the state’s reef system through a ban on the sale or distribution of any over-the-counter SPF sunscreen that contains oxybenzone or octinoxate. An exception would be made if a prescription is issued by a licensed health care provider. The chemicals are among 15 sunscreen blockers approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. There are two FDA-approved physical blockers — zinc oxide and titanium dioxide — that are considered “reef safe.”
The bill’s supporters point to years of scientific studies that have found exposure to oxybenzone and octinoxate leave coral more susceptible to bleaching and weaken reef ability to recover from ongoing heavy-hitting environmental threats such as wastewater discharge and other land-based pollution as well as over-fishing, invasive species and climate change.
Opponents say more science is needed to back up concerns about the chemicals and prompt an FDA ban. In the meantime, they worry that the proposed legislation could create consumer confusion, touching off a drop in sunscreen use.
Given an American Academy of Dermatology Association projection that nearly 500 new cases of melanoma will be diagnosed in Hawaii this year — and that the melanoma death rate here is more than 30 percent higher than the national average — we must avoid attaching stigma to protective sunscreen use.
But that doesn’t mean SB 2571 is not a sensible course of action. It is. Surely, state lawmakers can find a way to balance environmental risk with promotion of wise public health options. Sunscreen formulations free of oxybenzone and octinoxate are safer choices — and they’re already available on shop shelves near our beaches.
What’s more, although Hawaii’s marine ecosystems are fragile, they’re critical to the state’s economy. The reef annually generates an estimated $800 million in gross revenues largely tied to sunscreen-slathered tourism.
At Hanauma Bay, for example, with 2,600 people wading into the popular snorkeling site daily, it’s estimated that a yearly total of more than 150,000 pounds of sunscreen bleed into those waters — including a combined total of some 6,800 pounds of toxic oxybenzone and octinoxate.
Scientists and others persuasively assert, with ample photographic evidence, that health of the reef at Hanauma Bay and other go-to snorkeling and diving spots in the islands has degraded in recent decades. And in written testimony backing the bill, Surfrider Foundation’s Oahu chapter noted that it is “continuously alerted by recreational users of … the nearshore environment of slicks of sunscreen creating a sheen across ocean water in highly used regions.”
State officials are now attempting to spread the word about reef-safe sunscreen, with distribution of oxybenzone-free samples at public events and by meeting with boat tour operators and vendors who sell sunscreen. More needs to be done.
In September 2016, Gov. David Ige made a World Conservation Congress legacy commitment to have 30 percent of Hawaii’s nearshore waters effectively managed by 2030. Reducing the presence of chemicals damaging our reef would mark a step toward that goal.
While the legislation would not stop tourists from toting sunscreen containing oxybenzone and octinoxate here from elsewhere, it could promote public awareness of the need to better protect our underwater natural resources we rely upon.
