In a move to prevent more coral reef damage due to its popular marine tourism, Palau has gotten serious by outlawing the use of certain sunscreens. By Staff Writer.
Palau has become the first country to legalise the ban of certain sunscreen or sunblock ingredients to protect its coral reefs from chemicals that cause significant damage.
Palau, an archipelago of more than 500 islands in the Micronesia region in the western Pacific Ocean, lists 10 chemicals in its Responsible Tourism Education Act for their potential of harming coral reefs when they get into the water.
It has outlawed lotions that contain oxybenzone and octinoxate, two chemicals believed to cause damage to coral reefs.
Palau gets serious about marine pollution by banning certain ingredients in sunscreens and passing a law. Pic courtesy of pbs.org
Palau passed the law on the first day of January 2020. President Tommy Remengesau called it “especially timely,” saying that a major impetus was a 2017 report that found sunscreen products to be “widespread” in Jellyfish Lake, one of its main tourist hubs and a Unesco World Heritage site.
"When science tells us that a practice is damaging to coral reefs, to the fish population or to the ocean itself, our people take note and our visitors do too," Palau President Tommy E. Remengesau Jr. said. "The harmful effects of chemical sunscreen are well documented by scientists around the world, and that includes our local experts."
Stores in Palau caught selling sunscreen could be fined up to $1,000 while sunscreen bottled with oxybenzone and octinoxate will be confiscated from tourists. Sunscreens without the chemicals or any of the other banned substances are allowed, according to UPI.
The new law expanded on Palau's earlier move to ban chemical sunscreens from Jellyfish Lake. It is also part of a much wider attempt by the Government to protect its environment, particularly from tourists.
It follows on the heels of Hawaii, which in May last year became the first US state to ban the sale of sunscreens, which include two ingredients that have a damaging effect on coral reefs.
President Tommy Remengesau said the move was to ensure visitors and tourists "become part of the solution to the environmental challenges in our pristine paradise," according to the International Coral Reef Initiative (ICRI) website.
"Toxic sunscreen chemicals have been found throughout Palau's critical habitats, and in the tissues of our most famous creatures."
The ingredients oxybenzone and octinoxate, according to ICRI, are "known environmental pollutants" which can be "incredibly toxic to juvenile stages of many wildlife species, including corals, fish, macroalgae and even people".
"Oxybenzone can cause corals to become more susceptible to coral bleaching, it will damage the DNA of coral, and it will deform and kill juvenile coral," it said.
Another ingredient, octoclyrene, was also documented in the laboratory analysis of the water in Palau. This together with the other two ingredients “harm the development of coral, fish and invertebrates”, according to the Responsible Tourism Education Act.
According to Palau local news outlet Island Times, reef-safe sunscreens are permitted in Palau. Ms Miel Sequeira-Holm, a young Palauan entrepreneur, has developed a reef safe product called Pura Vida Palau, it reported.
Palau would also be looking at educating tourists upon their arrival to encourage responsible behaviour. Among the destructive practices noted by “uneducated visitors” are plastic litter, fin contact on corals during snorkeling or scuba diving, chemical pollution and removal of rare creatures.
“Thanks to a legacy of responsible management, Palau’s islands, water, coasts, mangroves and coral reefs are among the world’s healthiest and most pristine. With a little help from our international visitors, we can keep them that way for many years to come,” stated the legislative findings.
Sources: UPI, NY Times, Island Times, ABC News, Palau Government Website