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Joe Shlabotnik via Flickr/Creative Commons

Suncream is really bad for the ocean

Particularly phytoplankton.

NEXT TIME YOU’RE putting on suncream before heading to the beach, think about phytonplankton.

A new study of the contribution that sun creams make to hydrogen peroxide in coastal waters by the Mediterranean Institute for Advanced Studies (IMEDEA), Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) and the University of the Balearic Islands (UIB) has found that sun cream can be particularly bad for the ocean.

The study finds that the UV filters in sun cream, when hit by large amounts of sun light, creates hydrogen peroxide.

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While that may not seem like a big deal, hydrogen peroxide is an oxidising agent that can have a negative effect on phytoplankton. These microscopic residents of the oceans are part of a delicate ecosystem and have already seen numbers drop by 80% in parts of the ocean.

Phytoplankton are like plants in that they exchange carbon dioxide for oxygen through photosynthesis. They are in turn eaten by a host of ocean dwellers, who are then eaten by bigger fish and mammals.

Conservative estimates for a Mediterranean beach reveal that tourism activities during a summer day may release on the order of 4 kg of nanoparticles to the water.

The researchers say that this has a “direct ecological consequences on the ecosystem”.

Read: Co Clare wave energy project awarded €23m to develop technology

Read: Childhood asthma rates linked to black smoke in Galway

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17 Comments
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    Mute Seán Gallagher
    Favourite Seán Gallagher
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 3:23 PM

    Won’t somebody PLEASE think of the Phytoplankton!

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    Mute Mark Lillis
    Favourite Mark Lillis
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 3:41 PM

    It does fair damage to car paint too,

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    Mute Tony Skillington
    Favourite Tony Skillington
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 3:15 PM

    Back to the Frytex then..

    82
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    Mute Antonov Merinov
    Favourite Antonov Merinov
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 3:20 PM

    Yeah right.
    And paper never refused ink either.

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    Mute Brian Farren
    Favourite Brian Farren
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 3:36 PM

    And here’s me thinking ‘All that suncream in the water will stop the ocean creatures from getting sunburnt’

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    Mute Tony Skillington
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 6:00 PM

    Once knew a lad who used so much sun tan oil, when he went in the sea Green Peace came looking to rescue seagulls…

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    Mute Marian Doherty
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 3:28 PM

    Right so if it does that to the ocean what is it doing to our skin ?

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    Mute Dee4
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 3:38 PM

    apparently even Australians are more vitamin D deficient now, combination of sun creams and overuse of cosmetics/soap on the skin. I’d imagine our bodies think we have moved underground and aren’t happy about it.

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    Mute Shell Tomlin
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 3:45 PM
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    Mute Pat Kenny
    Favourite Pat Kenny
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 3:23 PM

    During my time touring the Hawaiian Islands this summer where shortly after I boated to the Philippines I found sun cream to be ineffective, especially for tourists.
    I just covered my exposed skin with tin foil and mayonnaise and not a burn did I get.

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    Mute Robert Wriggit
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 3:25 PM

    Good man Pat!

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    Mute Michelle Healy
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 8:19 PM

    Did The Journal seriously entitle this article with the # dont wear sunscreen. Considering how lethal melanoma is as a direct result of not using sunscreen this had to be the stupidest article ever written :/

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    Mute Hipster Enda
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    Aug 23rd 2014, 10:09 AM

    Why can’t Irish & British people just sit in the shade like normal people. 1st mention of the sun popping out behind a cloud and it’s clothes off to lie on a beach all day covered in chemicals. I don’t wear sunscreen, even in the tropics. I also don’t sunbathe ever. I still get the same tan as everyone else for the little time I spend in the sun when swimming etc. and I don’t get sunburn. Stay out of the sun when it’s directly over head and don’t be an idiot and you’ll be fine. I just don’t get the logic of putting on something to block the sun while staying in said sun. Sunscreen is for kids who don’t know any better. Grown adult should have some common sense about the sun.

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    Mute John Deegan
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 4:16 PM

    Is this a serious article? Is today April 1st? Seriously anyone who believes that human application of sun cream to their own bodies actually alters the composition of the worlds oceans has got to have an iq lower than a mouse.

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    Mute SilentFugitive
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 3:46 PM

    Lather up and slap it on! This is how the sun sees you with sunscreen on: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o9BqrSAHbTc

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    Mute Colm McCarthy
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 4:53 PM

    What a load of c@?p , 2/3 of the planet is ocean , we’ll be alright for a while , say 10′s of millions of years !!!!

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    Mute Daragh Cassidy
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    Aug 22nd 2014, 11:03 PM

    Can never understand the people who think sun cream is bad for you because it leads to vitamin D deficiency. When was the last time you heard of someone dying from vitamin D deficiency!? I’d take the small risk of a slight deficiency in vitamin D over skin cancer any day! Besides, Irish people in particular only need a tiny amount of exposure to the sun each day (around 15 mins) to get their daily intake of vitamin D.

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