Studies have shown that sunscreen and certain individual components of sunscreen can have negative effects on corals and other marine organisms under certain circumstances.
The chemical UV filter oxybenzone has been studied most intensively
and the following effects have been described:
• Bleaching of coral fragments and coral cells from
various species of hard coral. This effect is more
pronounced at higher water temperatures.
• Induction of the lytic viral cycle in symbiotic
zooxanthellae with latent infections.