A new report from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine calls for the Environmental Protection Agency to conduct a risk assessment of the active ingredients found in sunscreens to understand their impact on ocean environments.
The report was released shortly after Hawaii County passed a law banning the sale of sunscreens containing any active ingredients other than titanium dioxide and zinc oxide. That law is set to take effect on Dec. 1.
Two County Council members, Ashley Kierkiewicz of Puna and Tim Richards of Kohala, voted against the bill, favoring additional research from the NASEM, but the report found there is insufficient evidence to determine the environmental impacts of the ultraviolet-light-blocking sunscreens.
“It is clear decision-makers need more information as they navigate protecting both the environment and human health,” said Charles Menzie, chair of the committee that published the report last week. “An ecological risk assessment will help inform efforts to understand the environmental impacts of UV filters, and potentially clarify a path forward for managing sunscreens.”
The county law followed a 2018 state ruling prohibiting the sale of sunscreens with oxybenzone and octinoxate, and a 2022 ruling from Maui County banning all nonmineral sunscreens starting Oct. 1, both of which cited environmental concerns related to coral reefs and ocean life.
The NASEM report analyzed 15 organic and two inorganic sunscreen ingredients, identifying conditions that can potentially lead to environmental damage such as chemicals combining with other environmental stressors like climate change and contaminants.
Other environmental impacts mentioned in the report were salinity, the physical mixing of water, and light intensity, all of which can influence whether UV filters in sunscreens persist, disperse or break down.
The University of Hawaii Cancer Center contributed to the report, advocating for the EPA to pursue an ecological risk assessment on all sunscreen chemicals.
“This report is the first step towards more and better science to understand the complexities surrounding sunscreen’s impact on the environment and human health,” said Kevin Cassel, associate professor at the UH Cancer Center and a member of the NASEM committee.
The report also addressed concerns that limiting approved sunscreens can create barriers to access, potentially leading to more cases of skin cancer or the use of non-FDA regulated products, raising the question if risks outweigh the benefits when it comes to banning sunscreens.
“Given the importance of sunscreen for public health and the lack of conclusive data about its impact on the environment, lawmakers must not create additional barriers for consumers to choose safe, effective and FDA-approved sunscreens to protect themselves against skin cancer and other damage from sun exposure,” the Public Access to SunScreens Coalition said following the release of the report.
Hilo-based dermatologist Dr. Robert Shapiro expressed a similar concern.
“This whole issue should never, ever, ever have surfaced,” he said. “If people want to save the reef, they should stop driving their car, they should stop having children, they should stop using plastic, they should stop smoking cigarettes. There’s a million things, maybe a hundred million things, that people can do that would be more helpful to save the reef than stopping the use of sunscreen, which saves lives by preventing skin cancer.”
The report also addressed the term “reef-safe” that appears on certain packaging, stating “there is no regulatory definition or oversight for what constitutes ‘reef-safe’ that ensures it is scientifically meaningful or accurate.”
A 2020 study from the International Journal of Cancer revealed Hawaii had the highest rate of UV-caused melanoma, with 97% of melanoma cases statewide attributed directly to UV exposure.
Another study from October 2015 using information from the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration indicated that the UV filter oxybenzone may have been responsible for environmental contaminants in Hawaii, adding the ingredient “poses a hazard to coral reef conservation and threatens the resiliency of coral reefs to climate change.”
NASEM is requesting the EPA risk assessment analyze coral bleaching, cell-line tests, localized UV-filter concentrations and other molecular and biochemical changes to further clarify if sunscreens with UV-filters have a direct and harmful impact on the environment.
“Clearly, sunscreens are very helpful. They’re useful, they prevent death from skin cancer when used. So, there’s a tremendous benefit. On the other hand, the deleterious effect on the environment has not been adequately studied,” Shapiro said. “At some point, we have to compromise.”
Email Grant Phillips at gphillips@hawaiitribune-herald.com.