25,000 tonnes of sunscreen dumped into the oceans every yearthat corresponds to 48 liters dumped into the oceans every minute on a planetary scale. A crazy figure unveiled by the Foundation for Nature and Man, validated by Jérôme Labille, researcher at the National Center for Scientific Research (CNRS) in Aix-en-Provence.
According to his calculations, for a single beach in Marseille, he obtained the figure of 52 kg of sunscreen that ends up in the Mediterranean every day in summer. However, even if we still lack information on the real impact of this pollution: there are already certainties. The first is that some chemical sunscreens are toxic to corals, while others accumulate in the roots of Posidonia, an aquatic grass essential to underwater life in the Mediterranean. Some researchers wonder about the possibility that certain molecules, in particular endocrine disruptors, end up in the food chain via fish or shellfish.
In question: the sunscreen that does not remain completely on the skin when swimming. Scientists estimate that 25% of the amount of cream spread on the body is diluted in the sea after 20 minutes of swimming. And that’s an average. This is why Hawaii and the Palau Islands in the Pacific have already banned certain sunscreen products containing ingredients harmful to corals. These are, for example, filters such as octocrylene, oxybenzone, octinoxate, or certain parabens which are preservatives.
Mineral sunscreens are not necessarily more environmentally friendly. For researcher Jérôme Labille, the particles of zinc or titanium dioxide (which serve as mineral sunscreens) are coated with a protective layer that prevents these molecules from being toxic to us in the body. But we do not really know what happens to these mineral filters in the ocean afterwards, nor the lifespan of this protective coating.
Then, there are now creams with labels “protecting the ocean” : it’s better than nothing because, at least, these creams have passed some tests, but it’s not a total guarantee either because the ecotoxic impact analyzes have only been carried out on certain marine organisms and not on the whole ecosystem.
As there is no question of doing without sunscreen, you have to keep in mind certain common sense reflexes: use a water-resistant cream instead and especially not to cover yourself with cream immediately before going to bathe. , but rather half an hour before going to the water, so that the skin can absorb a good part of it.