Hey besties!! Its officially summer and as your local fish nerd and environmental science major, I thought I’d drop a quick reminder to check that any sunscreen you use is reef safe!! Our coral reefs are slowly dying bc of global warming (ocean acidification, etc) and certain chemicals present in sunscreens only exacerbate the process!! Here’s a little info-graphic from Safe the Reef to help everybody out!
https://savethereef.org/about-reef-save-sunscreen.html
If you see a sunscreen you are currently using, don’t just throw it out though. Use it in a pool or while you’re sunning, just not in the ocean or freshwater around you. Plastic and toxic waste are both issues too, so just finish what you have and never buy the brand again!! Personally, I’m trying to finish all of my Sunbum stuff before switching to a safer brand like Thinksport!
Baby sunscreens are usually reef safe too, bc babies have sensitive skin so their sunscreens tend to only have zinc oxide, the best sunscreen product.
There’s also this thing called the HEL list to keep an eye out for in your sunscreens. They’re the chemicals that are pollutants and show up in sunscreens and other skin products. NEVER FEAR THO BC THIS IS NOT A CHEM CLASS, the absolutely stunning, gorgeous, and amazing Haereticus Environmental Laboratory has gotcha covered. From their website, “Products labeled with the “Protect Land + Sea” Certification Seal mean that the product has been laboratory‐tested using analytical‐forensic techniques to verify that the product is free of the chemicals that are on the “HEL LIST.””
This little symbol right here:
http://haereticus-lab.org/protect-land-sea-certification-3/
For all you uber nerds like me who wanna know what the HEL list is, here ya go:
- Any form of microplastic sphere or beads
- Any nanoparticles like zinc oxide or titanium dioxide
-Oxybenzone
- Octinoxate
- 4-methylbenzylidene camphor
- Octocrylene
- Para-aminobenzoic acid (PABA)
- Methyl Paraben
- Ethyl Paraben
- Propyl Paraben
- Butyl Paraben
- Benzyl Paraben
- Triclosan
Thank you for coming to my Ted Talk! Have fun this summer but don’t be an ass to the environment or people!
IMAGE IDs since they may not load
Reading individual bottle labels from top to bottom, left to right
Image 1: list of sunscreens
Upper three rows
All Brands containing toxic chemicals
⁃ Elta MD UV Clear Broad Spectrum SPF 46
⁃ Equate SPF 30 Sport Sunscreen
⁃ Neutrogena Ultra-sheer dry touch SPF 50
⁃ Hawaiian Tropic Sheer Touch SPF 30
⁃ NO-AD Sun care SPF 45 paraben free
⁃ Coppertone Water Babies SPF 50
⁃ Panama Jack SPF 15
⁃ Naturopathica Daily UV defense Cream SPF 50
⁃ alba botanica hawaiian sunscreen green tea SPF 45, broad spectrum
⁃ Aveeno protect and hydrate sunscreen SPF 50
⁃ ISDIN Eryfotona Actinica ultralight emulsion broad spectrum SPF 50+
⁃ Banana Boat Ultra Sport SPF 30 clinically proven
Oxybenzone-Octinoxate- Homosalate-Octocrylene (containing one or more)
⁃ shiseido SPF 50
⁃ SPF 15 Australian Gold
⁃ Sunbum SPF 30
⁃ Glossier Invisible Shield daily sunscreen+ broad spectrum SPF 35
⁃ Supergoop play SPF 50 everyday sunscreen broad spectrum
⁃ Eucerin Daily protection broad spectrum SPF (not legible) 30 or 50
Bottom three rows
100% Reef Safe
⁃ Mama Kuleana Reef Safe Sunscreen oxybenzone free SPF 30 waterproof
⁃ Raw Love made with love and aloha SPF 35 Reef Safe All Natural Mineral Sunscreen Maui, HI water resistant (40 min)
⁃ Raw Elements certified natural sunscreen Face + Body Broad Spectrum SPF 30
⁃ organic Sun Paste Manda made with thanaka
All Ocean Friendly
⁃ California Baby super sensitive SPF 30+ high protection
⁃ All good sport sunscreen SPF 30
⁃ ABC Arbonne baby care Broad spectrum SPF 30
⁃ Goddess Garden organics everyday SPF 30 natural mineral sunscreen
⁃ active Badger broad Spectrum SPF 30 zinc oxide sunscreen cream
⁃ Suntegrity natural mineral sunscreen for body broad spectrum SPF 30
⁃ SPF 30 butterbean organics original healthy sunscreen
⁃ Thinksport SPF 50+ sunscreen the standard for safe sunscreen
⁃ Kimberley Sayer of London ultra light facial moisturizer SPF 30
⁃ Sea and Summit ten mineral sun barrier UVA/UVB Broad Spectrum
⁃ Hawaii SPF 30 organic Body Block medicinal
Image 2: The Protect Land + Sea Certified Logo
⁃ lettering in grey saying Protect Land + Sea Certified surrounding the logo
⁃ black colored wave heptagon with a white silhouette of a turtle inside
⁃ on the turtle’s back is a black swirl with a white dot in the middle
Haereticus Environmental Laboratory (HEL)
Reef Safe Sunscreen Guide | Save the Reef
