Skip the Sunscreen

[LadyGoDiver]

So, this came in an Undercurrents email. It goes without saying, our amazement at being amphibious is not natural. It will inevitably have harmful effects to the environment in which we're imposing our presence. But, we could lessen the damage by keeping our skin and equipment as natural as possible. Maybe this is one way we can keep our world a little less toxic in their world.


Skip The Sunscreen While Diving : It can damage and even kill coral reefs, says a study in the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. Italian marine biologists have linked four UV-blocking chemicals in sunscreens to coral bleaching because they cause viral infections in the symbiotic algae that live inside reef-building coral. The viruses replicate until their algae hosts explode, infecting neighboring coral. The researchers estimate that 5,000 tons of sunscreen wash off people in oceans annually, and that up to 10 percent of coral reefs are threatened by sunscreen-induced bleaching.
Scuba Diving Magazine for Serious Divers, Undercurrent Reviews Dive Resorts and Scuba Diving Equipment

[FishFood]

Interesting theory.

However, there are over 7 Billion tons of water. Which would make 5k tons of sun block only .0000007% concentration. Consider that most of sunscreen is just a filler, or a lotion and the amount of the "harmfull chemicals" shrinks to an even smaller number. I dont see how that would be of any harm given such dilution?

[cummings66]

I believe we went over this in another thread. Dive and forget about it.

If a person is that serious the best thing you can do to help the environment is to stop living. As I said in the other thread where this topic came up, it was not a scientific study based on sound science. It is easily debunked and there is little real science in it. It's a house of cards built on sand.

[LadyGoDiver]

I didn't see that thread, as I have a life. It was brought to my attention recently, and as a new diver, gave me pause for thought. I wanted to hear from more experienced divers on the matter. So sorry to ruffle your fins, founding father. Realistically, the ingredients on any given sunscreen lable do not match the ingredients in any given ocean on this earth, therefore, it is potentially harmful. So, don't be so quick to disregard the obvious. And don't be so cold to people trying to learn and to be safe for both themselves and the environment.

[Foo2]

I don't think that they meant to attack you. Sorry it seemed that way. They just don't agree with the article. Unfortunately in forums we can hear people's tones when we are reading their posts and sometimes they can come across much more harsh than they meant to.

Basically what was decided in the other thread is that we don't really know what sunscreen could do to the ocean, but most likely it is ok. Thanks for sharing that info with us and feel free to post other things as you find them!

[ReefHound]

I'm sure sunscreen is potentially harmful, just as with about everything else man made. As he said, you would have to stop living to stop harming the environment. Every time you drive a car, heat or cool your house, launder your clothes, shampoo your hair, put on makeup, and just about anything else. The solids end up in a landfill where they leach into the sub soil, the liquids run off into rivers that dump into the oceans, the gas emissions go into the air where they are filtered out by the rain into the oceans.

[WAHMof2]

I'm sure if you dumped millions of gallons of sunscreen in the ocean it would do some harm, but c'mon!

[BouzoukiJoe]

Next thing you know they'll say sunscreen causes wrecks to deteriorate faster. This abhorent practice must be stopped. Better we all get melanoma than harm the wrecks.

[pyre24]

I dont know about all that, but I think if a fish bites, it isnt going to like the taste. There is bad chemicals in almost everything nowadays.

[cummings66]

Yes there is, in fact one of the big problems in the midwest is runoff from the farmers fields.

Nothing personal was meant towards the OP however, I just didn't want to go into a long explanation over it and shortened my response perhaps a bit too much.