Hawaii鈥檚 ban on selling sunscreens containing the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate has encouraged the industry to change, substituting new ingredients and offering more mineral-based sunscreens.

But several months after the law went into effect, and as advocates push for the ban to include other chemicals, stores that violate the law appear to have little to fear — at least not yet.聽 The bill doesn鈥檛 outline any penalties for breaking the law or designate an agency to enforce the ban.

sunscreen, bottle, sunblock, oxybenzone
Selling sunscreen containing oxybenzone, such as this one, is illegal. Anthony Quintano/Civil Beat

鈥淎s we were going through the process the state agencies made it very clear that they didn鈥檛 want to be the beach police 鈥 and there鈥檚 no funding allocated to create new positions,鈥 said state Sen. Mike Gabbard, who introduced Senate Bill 2571 in 2018.

If a law enforcement agency did get a report that a store was selling banned sunscreens, there鈥檚 confusion over what steps to take — one agency says it’s still trying to work out what the law says about which state department is in charge.

鈥淎s far as we can tell in our system, we haven’t received any complaints and I would think if we did, our officers wouldn’t even know what to do,鈥 said Lt. Darren Rose of the Kauai County police department.

Rose said his department is going to sit down in the coming weeks to determine not only internal policy for addressing violations but also where to send the report.

鈥淲hen we first researched the bill, if we got it correctly, we’re thinking it falls under water pollution, which would be the Department of Land and Natural Resources,鈥 he said. 鈥淏ut when we鈥檙e researching this again it appears DLNR is not the administering agency but it鈥檚 the director of the Department of Health.鈥

In 2018 Gov. David Ige signed into law, making Hawaii the first place in the world to ban 鈥渢he sale, offer of sale, and distribution of sunscreens that contain the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate鈥 after many studies showed that those two chemicals cause genetic damage to marine life, including coral reefs.

鈥淲e’re very concerned about anything that adversely affects the ocean and the evidence seems to be that certain types of petrochemical sunscreens are harmful to the reefs and to other marine species,鈥 said Ted Bohlen of the , who advocated strongly for the 2018 legislation.

But supporters of the bill had to make concessions, including a provision that delayed the effective date until January 1.

鈥淭he sellers wanted more time before the ban went into effect and they basically bargained for a very generous two and a half years,鈥 Bohlen said.

Then there was the lack of an enforcement mechanism, which Gabbard and Bohlen said was a direct response to requests from state agencies.

“We talked to several agencies about this and they weren’t interested in enforcing this,” Bohlen said. “The opposition of the state agencies was going to make it hard to pass the bill … it’s one of many compromises you make in legislation.”

 

Hanauma Bay Park visitors swim and enjoy the water.
According to Haereticus Environmental Laboratory, an average of 412 pounds of sunscreen was deposited daily on the reef at Hanauma Bay. Cory Lum/Civil Beat/2021

 

Dan Dennison, spokesman for DLNR, said via email that DLNR had not been involved in any enforcement actions around banned sunscreen but that the department would need to check with its Division of Aquatic Resources and the Division of Conservation and Resources Enforcement for clarity.

The Department of Health did not respond to a request for comment.

Gabbard said that even though government enforcement was not spelled out, he was confident the law would lead to change because of grassroots passion.

鈥淭he last thing businesses want is a negative campaign against their store,鈥 he said. 鈥淎nd if people do see these chemicals in the store: take a picture, share it with your legislator or with media or send a nice letter to the owner of the store asking them to address the violation.鈥

So far it appears bans, like those in Hawaii, , and the are moving the needle. CVS eliminated oxybenzone and octinoxate from its store-branded sunscreens and major brands like Coppertone, Banana Boat and Neutrogena also sell sprays without those two chemicals.

But environmentalists and health experts are worried about chemicals like avobenzone, octocrylene, homosalate and octisalate that are being used instead of oxybenzone and octinoxate.

Additional Bans

Sen. Gabbard and the Hawaii Reef and Ocean Coalition鈥檚 Bohlen worked together this year on legislation that would ban the sale of sunscreens containing avobenzone and octocrylene in 2023. passed the Senate in March, but died in the House Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee.聽Correction: An earlier version of this story stated that the bill died in the Finance Committee.

鈥淲e’ll take a look at it again for this next session to possibly tweak it and see if the will is here to get that passed,鈥 Gabbard said.

Bohlen is optimistic about the bill because the same scientists that proved oxybenzone and octinoxate were harming Hawaii鈥檚 ocean life have also published studies linking avobenzone and octocrylene to negative impacts.

It鈥檚 one of the reasons Bohlen said it鈥檚 important to read the active ingredients before purchasing a sunscreen. Many brands advertise their products as 鈥渞eef safe鈥 if they don’t contain oxybenzone and octinoxate, but they may still contain harmful chemicals.

鈥淚 think they’re in violation of truth-in-advertising laws and that’s something that we鈥檙e looking into, bringing a complaint with the Department of Commerce and Consumer Affairs,鈥 he said. 鈥淭his is something that鈥檚 not only harmful to our ocean but to humans as well.鈥

Three indicators that a sunscreen is eco-friendly

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is currently updating its list of ingredients generally recognized as safe and effective for users. It is studying the chemicals cinoxate, dioxybenzone, ensulizole, homosalate, meradimate, octinoxate, octisalate, octocrylene, padimate O, sulisobenzone, oxybenzone and avobenzone. The FDA is studying their absorption into the body as well as the long-term effects of absorption.

鈥淲ithout further testing, the FDA does not know what levels of absorption can be considered safe,鈥 the department said .

Right now, the only active ingredients in sunscreen the FDA are zinc oxide and titanium dioxide, two of the main chemicals in mineral-based sunscreen.

鈥淚t can be confusing with all the chemicals,鈥 Bohlen said. 鈥淪o focus on mineral sunscreens containing the appropriate level of zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.鈥

Scientists generally consider mineral-based sunscreens to be less harmful than chemical sunscreens because they鈥檙e less likely to rub off a person鈥檚 skin in the water and the particles are too large to be absorbed by coral.

Bohlen said it鈥檚 even simpler to stay out of the sun between the peak hours of 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and cover up with rashguards, hats and clothes when in the sun.

Sunscreen is the only thing hurting Hawaii鈥檚 reefs. Higher ocean temperatures lead to coral bleaching and fertilizer and sediment runoff introduce harmful substances into marine environments that impair coral鈥檚 growth. But Gabbard said sunscreen bans are still important, pointing to estimates that of sunscreen Hawaii’s waters every year.

鈥淭he reality of the situation is that these chemicals still have an impact,” he said.

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