Coral reefs are already hurting from climate change and warming oceans, but a new study detailed a new threat: sunscreen.
According to The Washington Post, authors of a study published in the journal Archives of Environmental Contamination and Toxicology found that even a small amount of sunscreen can have adverse affects on coral. Per their study, the researchers determined one drop of sunscreen - and all its chemicals - in an area the size of six Olympic swimming pools is enough to damage coral.
"The most direct evidence we have is from beaches with a large amount of people in the water," study co-author John Fauth, an associate professor of biology at the University of Central Florida in Orlando, told The Post. "But another way is through the wastewater streams. People come inside and step into the shower. People forget it goes somewhere."
The researchers examined coral reefs in waters near the U.S. Virgin Islands and Hawaii over a period of multiple years.
Earlier this month, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) determined the Earth's coral populations are facing the "third ever global coral bleaching event."
"The coral bleaching and disease, brought on by climate change and coupled with events like the current El Niño, are the largest and most pervasive threats to coral reefs around the world," Mark Eakin, NOAA's coral reef watch coordinator, said in a press release. "As a result, we are losing huge areas of coral across the U.S., as well as internationally. What really has us concerned is this event has been going on for more than a year and our preliminary model projections indicate it's likely to last well into 2016."
