It is essential to wear sunscreen to protect your body from the sun’s harmful rays, but that sunscreen often ends up in lakes and oceans, causing damage to marine life.
Every year, about 14,000 tons of sunscreens spill into the seas through showers and washes. As a result, 82,000 chemicals from personal care products may be present in the oceans,” reads the website of the Association for Environmental Health of Quebec (ASEC-EHAQ).
Numerous studies have also proven that harmful ingredients in sunscreen can harm the health of marine animals, especially coral reefs by accelerating the bleaching process.
Here are some tips to protect yourself while protecting nature.
1) Cover up
By covering up, you reduce the amount of skin exposed and therefore the amount of sunscreen used.
2) Avoid aerosols
Aerosols cause much sunscreen to fall on the ground or in the air, and it spreads easily into waterways.
3) Check the components
Make sure to avoid oxybenzone and octinoxate, the most famous chemicals that harm the environment. Instead, choose mineral sunscreens that use “non-nano” zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Don’t rely on the “Reef Safe” rating: the term is currently unregulated.
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