Everybody's free to wear sunscreen

Hi friend,

I’m used to South African weather. Summertime in Johannesburg is pleasant, with temperatures averaging 26°C and not many sweltering 40°C days. (Although I vividly remember being eight months pregnant on a 40°C day in February and working in an office with no water, a broken air conditioner, and an empty jar of peanut butter that a cruel colleague had put back in the pantry after scraping it clean. Everyone knows not to get between a pregnant woman and her peanut butter. But I digress.)

We’ve been living in Australia for the past 18 months and I gotta tell you, the sun here is brutal. Since the Earth’s orbit brings Australia closer to the sun, 26°C feels more like Joburg’s 35°C, and if I stand outside for 10 minutes, my skin will burn.

Needless to say, we’ve gone through more sunscreen in 18 months in Australia than we did in 10 years in South Africa. And that’s coming from someone who avoids the sun like a vampire and goes to the beach fully clothed. I don’t leave the house without sunblock and I reapply multiple times a day.

So you can imagine my horror when I learnt this week about sunscreen pollution. And to rub sunscreen into the wound, one of the brands I use TOPS THE LIST of worst offenders!

Did you know that 14,000 tons of sunscreen enters the ocean every year?

Rivers, lakes, and oceans all over the world are polluted by sunscreen. It affects marine and plant life and contributes to coral bleaching. Research has shown that 90% of sunscreens negatively affect the environment, with those containing the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate being the most toxic to coral and humans. (Hawaii has banned the sale of creams containing these ingredients.)

According to Heal the Planet, damaging effects were seen in coral in concentrations of oxybenzone as low as 62 parts per trillion, which is equivalent to a drop of water in six-and-a-half Olympic-sized swimming pools 🤯

So what’s so bad about oxybenzone? In a word: Everything.

Aside from the negative environmental impacts, oxybenzone is absorbed into the bloodstream and has been linked to allergic reactions and hormone disruption, especially in men and young boys. It has also been found in breast milk, raising concerns about infant exposure.

What about octinoxate? Well, this chemical degrades into benzophenone, which is a known cancer-causing agent and hormone disruptor. It can cause deformities in both coral larvae and baby corals, damage to coral DNA, and abnormal skeletal growth.

Don’t be fooled by labels claiming sunscreen is “reef safe”.

Check the ingredients list for oxybenzone and octinoxate.

To be safe, choose a mineral sunscreen containing non-nano zinc oxide or titanium dioxide. Unlike chemical sunscreens that can be absorbed through the skin, mineral sunscreens create a physical barrier and aren’t absorbed through your skin (and also can’t be rubbed in). Yes, this means you’ll look like you took a dip in a barrel of chalk powder, but the fish and your health say thank you. 

— Tarryn ✌️

P.S. Are you reading this on LinkedIn? Please subscribe here and get it straight in your inbox.

This week's climate and sustainability news worth noting

🥵 It’s getting too hot to live. A new study warns that billions of people are at risk of temperatures exceeding survivability limits if global temperatures increase by 1°C – particularly in regions in the Middle East and South Asia. Some areas are already exceeding the limits of the human body's tolerance for the combined impacts of heat, humidity, and sun exposure.

❗️ Two studies published this week have warned that the world has officially entered “uncharted territory” when it comes to the climate crisis. The first study, endorsed by 15,000 scientists around the world, warned that 20 of the Earth’s 35 “vital signs” are already at record extremes following the “continued pursuit of business as usual”. It concluded that there has been “minimal progress by humanity in combating climate change”. In the second study, the UN’s University’s Institute for Environment and Human Security concluded that humanity is moving close to the brink of multiple risk tipping points, critical thresholds that, when exceeded, can lead to a significant and irreversible change in the state of the system.

💰 The damage to lives and property caused by climate change has cost US$16 million AN HOUR for the past 20 years. Researchers say the lack of data, particularly in low-income countries, meant the figures were likely to be seriously underestimated. Additional climate costs, such as from crop yield declines and sea level rise, were also not included.

🧊 New research has found that the West Antarctic ice sheet will continue to melt this century regardless of how much the world slashes emissions. Even under the best-case scenario of 1.5°C of warming above pre-industrial levels, ice would melt three times faster this century than last century.

🌍 Africa is splitting and a new ocean is forming in the crack. Two parts of land that make up the continent have started to separate, making way for a new ocean to run through the divide. It will take millions of years for a new body of water to form, but countries like Zambia and Uganda could one day have their own coastlines if the land mass continues to separate.

🪓 Global forest loss was 4% higher in 2022 than in 2021 despite world leaders signing a declaration promising to halt and reverse deforestation by the end of the decade. In fact, the WWF says the world missed its UN-backed deforestation target by 21% in 2022.

🦏 African rhino numbers are increasing and conservationists expect them to keep increasing as poaching decreases. Population numbers for black rhino have increased 4.2%, and 5.6% for white rhino. This is the first time since 2012 that there has been an increase in white rhino numbers.

🍺 Beer could soon cost more and taste worse thanks to climate change. A study found that the quality and quantity of hops, a key ingredient in most beers, is being affected by global heating. The alpha acid content of hops, which give beer its distinct aroma, has fallen in all regions and is projected to continue to fall as hotter weather and droughts become more common.

🇭🇰 Hong Kong will ban the sale and provision of various plastic products for dine-in and takeaway services, starting on Earth Day 2024. Other items to be banned include plastic glow sticks, cake toppers, and cotton buds.

👨‍⚖️ The US has a new House Speaker. Mike Johnson has questioned climate science and opposed clean energy, and he received more campaign contributions from oil and gas companies than from any other industry last year.

🔬 From the labs:

💉 Researchers turn medical plastic waste, including syringes and masks, into fuel for commercial purposes that are difficult to electrify, such as fishing vessels, cruise ferries, and heavy construction equipment.

🌀 Wild weather:

• Category 5 hurricane in Mexico.

• Floods in Scotland.

• Bushfires in Queensland, Australia.

And in business news

🚛 Apple and Nike have launched the Clean Energy Procurement Academy, an initiative aimed at equipping companies with the technical know-how to embrace clean energy and support supply chain decarbonisation.

Well, that's interesting

The Amazon drought, which has led to a dramatic drop in water levels in the river, has exposed dozens of usually submerged rock formations with carvings of human forms that may date back 2,000 years.

The rock carvings are not usually visible because they are covered by the waters of the Negro River, whose flow recorded its lowest level in 121 years last week.

One small thing you can do

Choose a mineral sunscreen.

Opt for sunblock containing reef-safe non-nano zinc oxide or titanium dioxide.

Even better, reduce the need for sunblock by wearing protective clothing (rash vests, sunnies, hats), sitting in the shade, and staying out of the sun between 10am and 2pm.

Because lots of little actions combined can add up to something remarkable.

I'll leave you on this happy note...

Penguins chasing a butterfly.

theexoticidiot

View more on Instagram

Enjoyed this newsletter? Please subscribe and tell your friends about it ✌️