KAILUA-KONA — Craig Downs says the science is in — and many types of commonly sold sunscreens are a direct threat to Hawaii’s coral reefs.
Downs, a Ph.D. and executive director of Haereticus Environmental Laboratory, gave a presentation on the topic Tuesday night at the Natural Energy Laboratory of Hawaii Authority Gateway Center at the request of Rep. Nicole Lowen — Kailua-Kona, Holualoa, Kalaoa and Honokohau.
He referenced the sunscreen sheen, or the slicks on top of ocean water, after several hundred or thousand people have entered a bay.
“That is equivalent to an oil spill, and that’s how we forensically deal with sunscreen pollution,” Downs said. “As an oil spill.”
The chemicals in sunscreen with which Downs and his team are particularly concerned are oxybenzone and octinoxate, which are commonly found in most sunscreens sold across the world, including Hawaii, often representing around 5 or 6 percent of the overall product content.
Most of his local research has been conducted on Maui, but Downs said his findings in Hawaii have been similar to those discovered in studies he’s conducted across the globe. He added that studies done by other countries from the Middle East to Europe to China have produced essentially the same results.
The conclusion, he explained, is that these chemicals are toxic to corals in several ways. First, oxybenzone acts as an estrogen endocrine disruptor, he said.
The result is what Downs referred to as zombie corals. In some areas, the corals aren’t producing reproductive tissue. Other times, the sex ratios of females to males change substantially, with many more females than males.
All this leads to high death rates, low recruitment rates and “gives rise to the wasteland” of decimated coral being observed worldwide.
“You can look at a coral reef and see nice coral, but they’re sterile. They’re not reproducing. There’s no babies,” he said. “So that reef that you’re looking at, in 10 years time, it’s dead. It’s not going to be there.”
Downs said impacts are registered at as low as 62 parts per trillion (ppt). Downs and his researchers have noted levels several factors higher than that 62 ppt floor — in the hundreds and thousands and even tens of thousands ppt — in several pockets of water off Maui, as well as at Hanauma Bay off Oahu.
There is also evidence linking sunscreen pollution to coral bleaching, Downs said. Corals bleach at a little above 30 degrees Celsius. In Hawaii, Downs has seen bleaching at 26.8 degrees Celsius where sunscreen chemical levels are high.
Downs explained that bleaching isn’t actually a bad thing — on occasion. He equated it to a forest fire, which at distant intervals is beneficial, as it clears out big trees and creates meadows that produce high biological diversity. Bleaching can produce the same effect in the oceans when it happens intermittently.
The problem, he said, is that corals aren’t coming back. He attributes this, at least in significant part, to the presence of oxybenzone and octinoxate, which are sourced primarily back to sunscreen pollution and raw sewage pollution.
The chemicals have also been detected in beach sand and in fish being served in restaurants. Downs said considering the chemicals act as estrogen endocrine disruptors and have also proven to be powerful herbicides, the implications are disconcerting.
The solution, Downs added, is layered — no pun intended. He said wearing sun clothes can reduce sunscreen pollution by half.
Beyond that, if states or the federal government begin to pass legislation banning certain chemicals, companies who produce sunscreens will change their ingredients. But they need the incentive.
Several members of the Hawaii State Legislature tried to provide it this year by introducing bills that would have regulated the multi-billion dollar industry, including banning the sale of certain polluting sunscreens in Hawaii.
Lowen was one. Sen. Will Espero — Ewa Beach, Ewa by Gentry, Iroquois Point, and a portion of Ewa Villages — was another. Espero’s bill that made it the farthest, but it died in Conference Committee.
Lowen speculated that was because when some legislators heard the bill read, it was the first time they’d heard of the issue. Opponents of the legislation gave testimony stating there isn’t not enough science yet, and thus lawmakers shouldn’t hastily overreact.
Lowen disagrees but said she understands the thinking.
“I think (legislators) want to feel comfortable that they’ve gotten to the bottom of what the truth is,” she said.
She added she’s hopeful the legislation will pass this session, and if not in 2018, then soon after.
“I think we really need it,” Lowen said.