The presentation titled
“Education vs. Enforcement: Next Steps Beyond the Enactment of Hawaii’s Sunscreen Law” is sponsored by the County of Maui Mayor’s Office of Economic Development and hosted by Maui Nui Marine Resource Council as part of the organization’s
“Know Your Ocean Speaker Series.” More events part of this series are held monthly via Zoom.
Dr. Craig Downs, whose groundbreaking research educated the world about sunscreen chemicals and their role in coral reef decline, will be a special guest speaker of this presentation.
Downs has received his Ph.D. from the University of Hawaii in cell and molecular biology, has published over 50 scientific papers and a number of book chapters in scientific textbooks, and is the co-editor of the CRC press veterinary book,
Downs says the best course of action is to exchange lotions and potions for bathing suits with sleeves and protective clothing like hats, rash guards, and swim leggings that have broad-spectrum UV protection built into the fabric as there is no 100 percent reef-safe sunscreen.
“That’s probably one of the most powerful conservation measures an individual can adopt [as] it means putting less sunscreen on your body which means less gets on the sand or in the water,” Downs says. “There are some calculations that [estimate] wearing a sun shirt instead of putting sunscreen on your torso/arms can reduce sunscreen pollution by more than 50 percent in an area. That is a major conservation victory.”
In July of 2018, Hawaii became the first U.S. state to ban the sale of sunscreens containing two common chemicals, oxybenzone and octinoxate, which many researchers worldwide have deemed potentia.