sunscreen news

Travel discussion for St. John
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iheartsj
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Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:15 pm

sunscreen news

Post by iheartsj »

Trunk Bay on St. John was included in a study with Hawaii about the use of sunscreens. Now Hawaii is taking action to save their reef. Each of us can take individual action now without a law.

http://www.treehugger.com/ocean-conserv ... reefs.html
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RickG
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Joined: Wed Aug 23, 2006 3:06 pm
Location: Coral Bay, St. John

Re: sunscreen news

Post by RickG »

Nothing short of a ban on the damaging sunscreen ingredients is going to make a difference. The Hawaii ban does not address nano sized zinc oxide and titanium dioxide that have also been implicated. Without oxybenzone, octinoxate and nano particles we will not have clear non-sticky sunscreen.

I gave some reef safe sunscreens a try over about six weeks. Each of them was heavy, sticky and left white streaks. People will not use them twice after getting accustomed Nutrogena Ultra Sheer and their like. It is going to take a Federal ban.

Cheers, RickG
S/V Echoes - Coral Bay - St. John, VI
equineannie
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Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:24 pm
Location: Florida

Re: sunscreen news

Post by equineannie »

This will be impossible to enforce. It means every piece of luggage entering Hawaii will have to be searched. Next they will need to police all the dive boats and outdoor tour operators if they allow anyone to have banned sunscreens. As for a federal ban? WE have the wrong party in control of the governemnt, and the last person in control of the EPA that would even discuss this.
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augie
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Location: Where the weather suits my clothes

Re: sunscreen news

Post by augie »

We could put a big dent in its local use if we could convince the retailers on island not to carry non reef safe sunscreen, but I think it would be an uphill battle getting them to remove something that is likely highly profitable off of their shelves voluntarily.

RickG is correct - for the public at large, getting them to make a sacrifice away from convenience of their own volition is a longshot. Just look at the proliferation of the ineffective, inefficient, and damaging spray on sunscreen.

Ironically, the reef safe stuff, while less appealing visually, and harder to apply, is probably orders of magnitude more effective at blocking harmful rays.

A rashguard and wide brim hat are still my personal favorites!
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gregsmom1987
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Joined: Thu Feb 20, 2014 9:37 pm

Re: sunscreen news

Post by gregsmom1987 »

Such a difficult issue, I hope they can develop better sunscreens that won't damage the reefs. We try to minimize the amount of sunscreen we use by going to the beach early or late, and wearing long sleeve rash guards so at least we don't need to slather on the poison 'on top' . Big hats work well too!
Coconuts
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Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:41 pm
Location: Southern NH, USA

Re: sunscreen news

Post by Coconuts »

Our favorite sunscreens are Sea Grapes and Mahos, with a rash guard when we are in the water, and some ZnO2 or TiO2 based sunscreen around the neck and nose.

Augie makes a good point; local shops should be persuaded to drop the most harmful products (those with oxybenzone and octinoxate).

All the best,

Kevin
iheartsj
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Joined: Sun Aug 11, 2013 2:15 pm

Re: sunscreen news

Post by iheartsj »

The new management has Cinnamon Bay Campground has indicated they will not sell sunscreen with Oxybenzone.
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