Sunscreen Threatening Marine Environments - but More Research is Needed

Sunscreen protects our skin from the sun’s ultraviolet rays that can lead to skin cancer. But what protects us can also pose a significant risk of bleaching corals and reducing fish fertility. That’s according to a new report compiled by researchers at the University of Plymouth.  

The UV filters added to sunscreens to block, absorb or reflect the sun’s rays pose a direct threat to marine organisms when they enter the sea.

The report is a review of other research in this area, and the conclusion of the researchers is that more research is needed because we know too little about how dangerous sunscreens really are for marine environments.

– Current research has only scratched the surface in terms of understanding how these chemicals can affect marine life, says Anneliese Hodge, the study’s lead author and a PhD student at Plymouth Marine Laboratory and the University of Plymouth.

– This review highlights the staggering number of chemicals from sunscreen that we know are being released into coastal marine environments – and shows that our understanding of the effects of these toxic compounds on marine organisms is surprisingly limited. Says Dr Frances Hopkins Marine Biogeochemist at Plymouth Marine Laboratory

Coastal areas are already subject to a number of stressors, say the researchers, such as marine heatwaves, so it’s important to understand how these chemical pollutants affect an already stressed ecosystem.