Should we better regulate the use of sunscreen at the beach? This question has already arisen to protect corals, but researchers are now also asking it to protect certain aquatic plants.
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Scientists from the University of Barcelona have just confirmed that certain chemical filters from sunscreens can accumulate in the roots of Posidonia, aquatic herbs from the Mediterranean. This worries them, because they fear that these chemical compounds will disrupt the photosynthesis process of Posidonia. However, these large aquatic grasses, which are found over 12,000 km2 in the Mediterranean, play an essential role: they shelter fish, serve as food for sea urchins, stabilize sediments and above all, they oxygenate the seabed.
This chemical pollution found in Posidonia necessarily comes from sunscreens because Spanish researchers have studied a chemical compound in particular: oxybenzone, well known as an anti-UV filter in cosmetics. It has already been implicated for its toxicity on corals. Certainly, in the sea all these filters are diluted but in the tourist areas, it is serious. This study conducted in the Balearic Islands proves that accumulation in the environment is possible. Which is not so surprising because other studies have shown that 25% of the quantity of cream spread on the body is diluted in the sea after 20 minutes of swimming.
There is no question of doing without it when we know that between 50 and 70% of skin cancers are linked to overexposure to sunlight. But more research is needed on the environmental impact of UV filters. Not all are involved. At this stage, studies prove the toxicity of four of them on corals. Four out of around thirty filters on the market in France, explains Didier Stien, director of research at the Banuyls Oceanological Observatory.
All types of sunscreen have not yet been studied, but the solution will undoubtedly come from a better selection of ingredients used by the cosmetics industry. Some regions of the world have already taken the step of banning certain compounds in sunscreens. Hawaii and the Palau Islands in the Pacific have already decided to ban the import and sale of sunscreen containing in particular octocrylene, oxybenzone, or certain parabens deemed harmful to biodiversity. Offenders risk more than 800 euros in fines.