Sun Lotions Are Harming Corals
By Nick June 3, 2008
To all the dangers coral reefs have to fight with, like pollution and urbanism, a recent study of the European Commission adds another one: sunscreen lotions tourists use on the beach. And this is not a minor problem, as many would think, because there aren’t just two or three people using them.
The study reveals that an amazing ten percent of the coral reefs around the world are suffering from the lotions, and most of them already started to bleach because of them. The research took place in Mexico, Egypt, Thailand and Indonesia, where Italian scientists from the University of Pisa discovered that even in small amounts, the ultraviolet filters in lotions cause the corals to eventually bleach, by discharging large amounts of coral mucus.
In the same waters were found high virus levels, which could also be caused by the same lotions. There are four to six thousand tons of sunscreen byproducts produced annually, which eventually end up in reef areas, and it takes about one hour for the entire amount of lotion from your body to disperse in the water.
Topics: Dangers |
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