Climate change, urban and industrial pollution, mining and overfishing are just some of the threats to coral reefs worldwide. A recent European Commission study now adds sunscreen lotions to that list. The paper states that up to ten percent of the world’s coral reefs—composed of marine organisms with external skeletons—are subject to bleaching due to chemicals in the sunscreens worn by beach-going tourists.
This was a big concern when I was at the Xel-Ha park in Mexico. They gave us free organic sunscreen to use for the day. It's something you have to think about when you are potentially bringing foreign chemicals into a fragile environment.
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