SUMMER CARE: Deep Dive into Reef-Safe Sunscreens

Summer is in the air and with the days becoming longer, the weather is getting hotter, and more people are taking those long-awaited beach trips, how are we protecting our seas while protecting our skin?

With the increased access to skincare knowledge, more and more people are educating themselves on how to properly take care of their skin during intense weather months. However, when thinking about skincare, more than often we're not thinking of how the chemicals in the products are affecting the environment. Today we're going to discuss the importance of sustainable reef-safe sunscreen with this quick little guide below:

Sunscreen Kills?

When discussing sunscreen, we are always talking about how it protects us from harmful UV rays that can cause damage to our skin. Which it does, but there's always a negative side to the positive. 

Sunscreen pollution has become a factor in coral reef erosion. As we know, coral reefs regulate ocean life and filter seawater among many things, and their survival is extremely important as it is linked to the health of the ocean.

“Sunscreen pollution is a real phenomenon and it poses a threat to coral reefs and aquatic life. It’s also a major factor in decreased water quality,” says Craig Downs, the study’s co-author and the executive director of Haereticus Environmental Laboratory. 

So what should we look for in our sunscreens in order to not contribute to pollution and how can we prevent coral reef erosion? The simple answer is to use safe-reef sunscreen.

Eco-friendly Sunscreen

Reef-safe sunscreen is simply environmentally friendly sunscreen that contains mineral UV-blocking ingredients and not extremely toxic ingredients such as oxybenzone. You can also invest in sunscreens with NON-nano particles because it is considered reef-safe. 

Overall, it is important to check the labels for deadly ingredients before purchasing to ensure that they're safe for the ocean. Below we've included a list of ingredients to avoid!

Deadly Ingredients

• Oxybenzone
• Octinoxate
• Octocrylene
• Homosalate
• 4-methylbenzylidene camphor
• PABA
• Parabens
• Triclosan
• Any nanoparticles or “nano-sized” zinc or titanium (if it doesn’t explicitly say “micro-sized” or “non-nano” and it can rub in, it’s probably nano-sized)
• Any form of microplastic, such as “exfoliating beads”