Ban coral-killing sunscreen!
To Jessika Roswall, European Commissioner for Environment, Water Resilience and a Competitive Circular Economy, Stéphane Séjourné, Executive Vice-President for Prosperity and Industrial Strategy, and Costas Kadis, European Commissioner for Fisheries and Oceans.
Petition
Protecting our skin shouldn't come at the expense of the sea. We're calling on you to make sunscreen safer for people and marine life by:
- Phasing out and banning harmful UV filters from sunscreen products sold in the European Union, including oxybenzone, octinoxate, octocrylene, benzophenone-1, benzophenone-8, nano titanium dioxide and 4-Methylbenzylidene Camphor (4-MBC).
- Restricting the use of these toxic UV filters in Marine Protected Areas and other ecologically sensitive coastal zones.
- Introducing mandatory marine ecotoxicity assessments for all UV filters authorised under EU cosmetic legislation, and ensuring environmental claims such as “marine-safe” or “reef-safe” are scientifically verified and legally regulated.
- Promoting safer alternatives, including mineral-based UV filters with demonstrated and lower environmental impacts.
- Creating a dedicated EU funding programme for the conservation, restoration and recovery of coral ecosystems, including coralligenous reefs, red coral habitats and gorgonian forests.
Why is this important?
This summer, millions of people are reaching for sunscreen - slathering it on before going for a swim or enjoying the beach. Many of us choose bottles labelled "reef safe" or "reef friendly", thinking we're helping to protect the sea.
But in Europe, most of these labels mean nothing at all.
Sunscreen brands don't have to prove their products are safe for marine life before selling them to us. [1]
Several common ingredients in sun lotions accumulate in marine environments and contribute to coral stress, bleaching, and broader coastal damage. [2] Some of them could also cause lower fertility and hormonal disruption in humans. [3]
Our seas are under threat. Every summer that passes without proper laws protecting them causes damage we can't undo. [4] Hawaii and Palau have already acted to restrict sunscreen ingredients that threaten marine wildlife. [5] The EU hasn’t.
We should be able to protect both our skin and the sea with confidence. But that will only happen if enough of us demand change.
Sign the petition: call on the EU to ban harmful sunscreen ingredients and put an end to misleading "reef safe" labels!
References:
- https://savethereef.org/about-reef-save-sunscreen.html
- https://www.reefsafety.com.au/ ; https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/sunscreen-corals.html
- https://suntribesunscreen.com/en-es/pages/toxic-sunscreen-ingredients-to-avoid
- https://www.icm.csic.es/en/news/climate-crisis-drives-mediterranean-coral-populations-collapse
- Hawaii Senate Bill 2571 (effective 2021) prohibits the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate. The Palau Responsible Tourism Education Act (2020) bans several reef-toxic sunscreen ingredients. https://www.reefsafety.com.au/blog/what-hawaii-palau-teach-australia
Picture credits: Arnau Argemí