In the spring of 2005, Craig Downs, Ph.D., a forensic ecotoxicologist in Virginia, received an unusual phone call from the National Park Service. “They wanted to figure out what was happening to the bay around Trunk Bay in the U.S. Virgin Islands,” he says. Specifically, “they wanted to know what was killing all the coral reefs.” Curious, Downs, who is the executive director of Haereticus Environmental Laboratory, flew down with a team of researchers to investigate the nearshore habitat. They were stumped until a local Rastafarian overheard their conversation and made a passing comment. “He told us, ‘It’s the tourists,’” says Downs. “On a single day, about to 2,000 to 5,000 people visited the beach and when they left, the surface of the water would look like an oil spill—it had an iridescent sheen.” After pulling samples and testing for toxicity, Downs discovered that chemicals in sunscreen—generously slathered on by snorkelers, divers, and beachgoers—had washed off in the water and stood out “like a burning red flag.”
Is Your Sunscreen Bad for the Planet? Here’s How to Choose an Ocean-Safe Formula
funeral-biscuit 