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Staying Green in the SunIs my sunscreen bad for the environment?

By Nina Shen RastogiPosted Tuesday, May 26, 2009, at 9:54 AM ET

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Similarly, according to an Italian study that received a lot of attention last year, a few widely used sunscreen ingredients—oxybenzone, octinoxate, and the common preservative butylparaben—triggered viral infections in the algae that nourish coral reefs, causing the corals to "bleach" and die. Some critics have pointed out that the coral samples in the study were kept in incubators; in real life, the sunscreen would presumably be diluted as the water circulated.

In the wake of these studies—and, it seems, out of a general sense that minerals are more "natural" than chemicals—many green-minded folks suggest switching from chemical sunscreens to the zinc or titanium varieties. But these haven't been proven 100 percent safe for our ecosystems, either. Indeed—in lab conditions, at least—they've been shown to be toxic to zebrafish and potentially harmful to rainbow trout. Some kinds of titanium dioxide nano-particles may also have harmful effects on algae.

There's also the production of sunscreen to worry about. The mining and processing of minerals is both resource-intensive and environmentally taxing. Creating titanium dioxide can result in large amounts of iron sulfate waste or smaller amounts of the more hazardous iron chloride waste. And manufacturing the nano-sized versions may require plenty of extra energy plus more purifying solvent, which generates significant amounts of waste that may be hazardous, depending on the solvent used.

It's hard to tell exactly how the chemicals stack up in terms of production, since manufacturers tend to be pretty closed-lipped about their proprietary formulations. (As an industry, though, metal mining releases more than twice the amount of toxic chemicals as the chemicals industry, according to the EPA [PDF].)

In the absence of better data, then, the Lantern agrees with the researchers who conducted a 2007 literature review on the topic of UV filters and concluded that—while the field deserves further study—"the present state of knowledge is incomplete and insufficient to impose 'environmental protection' measures" on sunscreens.

In the meantime, there are plenty of ways to protect your skin while going a little easier on the Coppertone. Bring a hat or a caftan and find yourself a beach umbrella. If you're feeling brave, you could always try one of those Darth Vader-style sun shades so popular with the ladies of Asia. (The Lantern's mother won't leave home without hers.)

And remember, the stuff that washes off your body isn't the only sunscreen waste you need to worry about. Most dermatologists recommend using a shot-glass-size application each time you lotion up, which means you could end up with another empty plastic tube every few times you go to the beach.

Is there an environmental quandary that's been keeping you up at night? Send it to , and check this space every Tuesday.