The 6 Best Coral Reef Safe Sunscreens To Protect Your Skin And The Environment

We all know how important sunscreen is to protect our skin against the sun and avoid sunburn (or eventually even worse, skin cancer). But did you know that when we protect ourselves with the average sunscreen, we harm the coral reefs? I never realized this until a couple of months ago. I’ve done a lot of research and purchased different coral reef safe sunscreens to make sure I not only protect myself but also the coral reefs! If you’re interested in finding out which coral reef safe sunscreens are the best then keep on reading because I’m summing up my 6 faves!

Many sunscreens contain chemicals that are damaging to coral reefs. These chemicals include oxybenzone and octinoxate. When shopping for sunscreen, it is important to look for one that is reef safe. One way that you can help protect coral reefs is by choosing a sunscreen that is safe for coral reefs. Before I sum up my favorites, I want to share some tips to help you find coral reef safe sunscreens yourself too:

1. Chemical sunscreens aren’t generally all bad, they got a bad name over the last years because most of them contain oxybenzone which we figured isn’t reef-friendly. However, there are some great reef safe chemical sunscreens on the market so don’t let the name scare you.
2. Key ingredients to avoid are Oxybenzone and Octinoxate. Additionally, look out for Benzophenone-1, Benzophenone-8, 3-Benzylidene camphor, OD-PABA, 4-Methyl benzylidene camphor, Parabens, Triclosan, and Octocrylene. These can affect corals’ reproductive cycle, damage DNA, and worsen the effects of coral bleaching.
3. Be sure to use micro-sized (or non-nano) mineral sunscreens to avoid nanoparticles, as these smaller particles can be toxic in high concentrations.
4. Look for Titanium Dioxide or Zinc Oxide as the active ingredient in the sunscreen. But mind you, titanium dioxide in a spray formula can be harmful to your health if inhaled.

The chemicals such as oxybenzone and octinoxate aren’t only harming the coral reefs. In fact, they can also be harmful to other marine life, such as fish, dolphins, green algae, and sea urchins, and cause problems like deformation, decreased fertility, and impaired growth. Some are even known to be harmful to human health.

Sources: coral.org and savethereef.org | More Conscious Beauty Tips on Beautymone

The 6 Best Coral Reef Safe Sunscreens

If you’re interested in seeing even more coral reef safe sunscreens, I’ve compiled a favorite sunscreens page with more awesome and safe sunscreens. I’ll be adding to this list when I come across more coral reef safe sunscreens so make sure to save the page and check back every once in a while. If you shop through my Shoplist page, as mentioned at the top of this post, I’ll get a small commission at no extra cost to you.

Are you switching to coral reef safe sunscreens? Let me know in the comments.