TAGS: Sun Care
Hawaii legislature has found out that a number of sunscreen drugs have been demonstrated to pose harmful impacts on Hawaii’s marine environment and coral reefs.
To Preserve State’s Marine Ecosystem
To preserve the state’s marine ecosystems, the state has banned the sale, offer of sale and distribution of any sunscreen that contains oxybenzone or octinoxate, without a prescription issued by a licensed healthcare provider, through the enactment of Act 104, Session Laws of Hawaii 2018.
Oxybenzone and octinoxate cause mortality in developing coral. The harmful chemicals increase coral bleaching that indicates extreme stress, even at temperatures below 87.8 degrees Fahrenheit and cause genetic damage to coral and other marine organisms.
Industry Guidelines for Testing Sunscreen
FDA has published industry guidelines that outline the required testing for sunscreen. Each chemical found in a sunscreen product is categorized by the FDA as:
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Category I: Generally recognized as safe and effective for the claimed therapeutic indication
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Category II: Not generally recognized as safe and effective or unacceptable indications
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Category III: Insufficient data available to permit final classification
Beginning from 1 January 2023, only sunscreen products that contain active ingredients classified by the US FDA as category I, shall only be offered for sale in the state, without a prescription issued by a licensed healthcare provider.
Source: Hawaii Government