Octocrylene Now? Sunscreen Industry Under Growing Pressure As Environmental Concerns Mount
Executive Summary
Lawmakers already are taking action to ban sales of oxybenzone- and octinoxate-containing sunscreens due to signals, however inconclusive, that the ingredients pose dangers to coral health. Now a new study suggests that octocrylene could be a concern as well.
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Proposed bills in the Aloha State would ban the sale of sunscreens containing octocrylene and/or avobenzone, adding to a UV filter blacklist that already includes oxybenzone and octinoxate. On 17 February, Hawaiian legislators elected to defer the legislation to await completion of a National Academy of Sciences study, targeted for 2022.
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The City Commission voted 6-1 at its Feb. 5 meeting to prohibit the sale of sunscreens formulated with oxybenzone and/or octinoxate beginning Jan. 1, 2021. That same day, Florida state Senator Linda Stewart proposed similar legislation that would push the effective date up to July 1, 2019, also citing the ingredients’ suspected role in coral declines.