Time to check your sunscreen

Earth Day is officially 4 days away, and we are so excited! Today our post is focussing more on what we know best: ocean health. As you have seen in former blog posts, sunscreen can be extremely harmful to coral reefs; however, this is not an issue for all sunscreens. It all comes down to one toxic ingredient: OXYBENZONE. Often when people swim in the ocean, the sunscreen containing this chemical seeps into the water and kills coral immediately. Not only does this ingredient affect coral, it is not too great for humans either. Studies have shown that oxybenzone is related to hormone disruption and could even cause skin cancer.

Do yourself and our oceans a favor and check the labels on your sunscreen. Often there is just 3-6% oxybenzone, and that is enough to do the damage. Sometimes there is oxybenzone in some forms of one brand (ex. sprays, lotions, stick), but not others, so BE CAREFUL!

Here are 3 of our favorite oxybenzone-free alternatives:

  1. SunBum

  2. La Roche-Posay

  3. Alba Botanica

XOXO, LBW

Kate and Haley Coral