Hawaii is poised to become the first state in the United States to ban the sale of sunscreens containing two chemicals considered harmful to coral reefs.
The chemicals in question are oxybenzone and octinoxate, which are found in many commercial sunblocks.
The bill to ban them passed in May and Hawaii’s governor is expected to sign it this week. The ban would take effect in 2021.
Companies that sell products with those chemicals will either have to stop selling them or reformulate them without the chemicals.
People could still get sunscreens containing those chemicals by prescription. There’s plenty of pushback from the sunblock industry, with some suggesting the ban will cause fewer people to use sunscreen, thus increasing the risk of skin cancer.
There are other options out there, such as sunscreens that contain zinc oxide and titanium oxide to block UV rays.