Measure for sunscreen testing progresses

Coral reefs may be susceptible to damage from sunscreen, especially at tourist-heavy locations. Image via Honolulu Civil Beat.

A measure that would require the University of Hawai‘i to study the effects of sunscreen on Hawai‘i’s coral reef was passed by the House Ocean, Marine Resources and Hawaiian Affairs Committee on Wednesday.

The study called for in HB 1765 would “include recommendations on how to mitigate the detrimental effects to coral, if any, caused by sunscreen, giving due consideration to the need to protect the coral reefs and the possible impact that mitigation measures may have on residents and visitors who use sunscreen.”

UH Chancellor Robert Bley-Vroman and Ruth D. Gates, director and coral biologist for the Hawai‘i Institute of Marine Biology (HIMB), said in written testimony that O‘ahu reefs at Hanauma Bay and Waikīkī see “heavy tourist traffic and have a measurable concentrations of sunscreen chemical.”

Read more about it in Honolulu Civil Beat.