A team of researchers decided to study what happens to litres of sunscreen residue and how it affects the biodiversity of the Mediterranean.
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Protecting your skin from the sun’s UV rays, but at what cost to our environment? In summer in Marseille, according to the CNRS in Aix-en-Provence, more than 50 kilos of sunscreen end up in the Mediterranean every day. But what happens to these liters of sunscreen? On the Catalans beach, in downtown Marseille, around twenty researchers collected data on Wednesday, August 28 to try to answer this question. A vast scientific project, called “Micro Beach”, led by the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanology in Luminy, the University of Toulon, the Saint-Charles Faculty of Sciences in Marseille and the Espace d’Avignon laboratory.
Catalans Beach looks like a crime scene that day. Several areas are marked off with tape. José, a regular, wonders. “I’m trying to understand what’s going on.” A team of researchers is digging holes to collect water using a probe before analyzing it. These microbiologists are collecting data on sunscreens.
“We know that there are residues, when people bathe, which are emitted into the water. But we do not know if they can accumulate in the subsoil, on the sand particles, in contact with the sea water which infiltrates, explains Benjamin Misson, research professor at the University of Toulon. That’s why we dig, why we go and get sea water and sand from deep down. We’re going to try to measure these compounds and see if there are bacteria that can break them down.”
In short, would nature be able to treat these residues of sun creams which have an impact on the environment? Corals and posidonia suffer from it.
“The term ‘UV Filter’ that is in sunscreens, it is something that prevents UV from giving us sunburn and they also intercept light in the water, describes the researcher. But there are organisms in the water that need this light to live.. So there may be this limiting effect of light, Benjamin Misson emphasizes. And then some molecules in themselves can have a certain toxicity, it has been demonstrated in the laboratory. We really have a field to explore on this. And it is true that we are not necessarily on the toxicity side with this study.”
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This scientific study, conducted by researchers from the Mediterranean Institute of Oceanology, is coupled with a behavioral study. Under his hat, equipped with a questionnaire, Samuel Robert, research director at the CNRS and geographer, interviews people installed on the beach, to learn more about their practices.
“Do they protect themselves from the sun? Do they put it on before swimming, after swimming, what type of sunscreen do they use? Do they care whether there is an organic label or not? lists the scientist. This information on sunscreens is supplemented by a photograph of the bottle on which we will collect all the information on the contents of the sunscreen.”
The results of this study will not be known until May 2025. They could lead to recommendations, such as not applying sunscreen just before swimming, avoiding certain chemical compounds in sunscreen products or installing shaded areas on beaches.