A state law took effect last year that banned the sale of sunscreens that contain two specific chemicals, but a proposed Hawaii County law would go further and ban selling all sunscreens except those containing two different substances.
The proposed ban, which will be discussed at today’s meeting of the County Council’s Committee on Climate Resilience and Natural Resource Management, would prohibit the sale or distribution of any nonmineral sunscreen, which in this case means any sunscreen that uses an active ingredient other than titanium dioxide or zinc oxide.
North Kona Councilman Holeka Inaba will co-introduce the proposal today with fellow West Hawaii Councilwoman Rebecca Villagas, and said Monday that it is a chance for the county to “put its money where its mouth is about sustainability.”
A state bill in 2018 banned the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate, chemicals found to increase coral bleaching and cause genetic damage to coral and other marine life. Inaba said titanium dioxide and zinc oxides are generally considered to be the least environmentally harmful active ingredients in sunscreens.
The new county bill is largely modeled after a similar Maui ban that passed last year, Inaba said. While that bill also limited sunscreen sales to only the two mineral sunscreens, it also prohibited the use of nonmineral sunscreens, while Inaba and Villegas’ bill does not.
“We figured it would be harder to pass the bill if we included the usage ban,” Inaba said, adding that beachgoers could in theory bring nonmineral sunscreen to the island from elsewhere.
The bill also allows for an exception to the ban in the case of a prescription from a licensed health care provider.
Inaba said he hopes the council will be amenable to the bill after receiving more than 200 emails testifying in support of the measure, and only two against it.
Should the ban pass, it will take effect in December.
Email Michael Brestovansky at mbrestovansky@hawaiitribune-herald.com.