As of January 1st, 2021...
Following Hawaii's lead, the Key West has come together to vote and pass a ban on most sunscreen products. This may sound crazy to many people, until they hear the reasoning behind it. Most sunscreens have two chemicals, oxeybenzone and octinoxate, which have both been proven to be harmful towards coral reefs along with many other parts of the marine ecosystems. Despite the toxic effects the sunscreen chemicals can have on the marine ecosystems as it washes off beachgoers, the sunscreens are still FDA approved and pose no risk for humans.
Mayor Teri Johnson said, "To me, it boils down to the fact that there are thousands of sunscreens out there and we have one reef, and we have an opportunity to do one small thing to protect that. I believe it's our obligation."
Key West and Hawaii are both on track to have their bans start on January 1st, 2021. This ban will affect numerous well-known sunscreen brands, such as Coppertone Water Babies SPF 50 and Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch sunscreens. People who violate the ban will first get a written warning, then after that they will have to follow "standard civil citation procedures."
There was quite a bit of argument and disagreement over this ban being passed. However, the acknowledgement of how important the reefs are to the Key West's tourism and fishing industries, along with the fact that the reefs house over 6,000 different species, is far too important to ignore. While this ban has created a lot of work for different sunscreen brands in the upcoming future, the outcome will hopefully give us a much healthier and safer environment.
Click here to read more about the Key West Sunscreen Ban.
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