New research revealed how sunscreen can kill coral reefs

Sunscreen is truly necessary to protect humans from UV-rays that possibly can leads to skin cancer and other issues. It’s really save people but in the same time it’s killing coral reefs, researchers say.

It's been known for years that sunscreens containing oxybenzone are the likely culprit of the damages suffered by coral reefs.

The chemical is highly effective at blocking UV rays from human skin, but once it's in the ocean, it's no longer harmless to other forms of life, a fact that has led to the banning of certain sunscreen formulas in reef-heavy areas, such as Hawai'i, the U.S. Virgin Islands, Palau and Bonaire.

That's the information gap a new study, published in the journal Science on Thursday, sought to close.

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