Sunscreen: Protection or Poison?

Overview

Objectives This project was done to determine if recent studies suggesting that sunblock is harmful to coral reefs are true. Methods Over a period of weeks raise Brine shrimp (as a proxy for coral reefs) from eggs in homemade hatchery. Expose 10 shrimp in a Petri dish to a 1cm square swab of one of 9 sunblock brands, 3 household chemicals, or 1 control, and record the health condition every hour over 36 hours for each. Results Zinc-based sunblocks were found to be the least harmful to brine shrimp, while sunblocks containing oxybenzone or octinoxate were the most. Surprisingly, shampoo (which has not gotten as much press) was found to be even more harmful. In addition, cost was not related to environmental harm. Conclusions All sunscreens tested were found to be harmful to sea life (as represented by Brine shrimp). Zinc-based sunblocks were less harmful than oxybenzone and octinoxate-based blocks, concurring with recent media reports. Interestingly, at equal concentrations, household shampoo proved to be even more of a threat to Brine shrimp, implying sunscreen is not the only danger beach-goers may bring to the world's coral reefs.

Awards (1)

• Third Place

Competition history

• CSEF 2019 Toxicology · Entry J2101

Resources

• CSEF project summary ↗

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