Hawaii state legislature passes the bill to ban the sunscreen sale as it damages coral reefs

To save the coral reefs and marine life, the US will ban the sale of sunscreen chemicals in Hawaii. The sunscreen products has chemicals like Oxybenzone and octinoxate which kill the coral reef.

A bill to ban the sale of sunscreens containing two types of chemicals toxic to the ocean was passed by the Hawaii state legislature on Tuesday and will now go to the governor's office for his signature. If signed, the ban would start in 2021.

According to the scientist, the chemicals Oxybenzone and octinoxate breaks the coral by  leaching it of nutrients and disrupt the development of fish and marine life, like sea urchins and algae.

According to a study published in 2015 in the Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology, more than 14,000 tons of sunscreen lotion ends up in coral reefs every year. One can find high concentrations of sunscreen at tourist places like Hawaii and the US Virgin Islands.

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