为什么防晒霜对珊瑚礁有害

为什么防晒霜对珊瑚礁有害

The sunscreen we slather on to protect ourselves from the sun's harmful rays is doing incredible damage to the world's coral reefs.

我们涂上厚厚的防晒霜来保护自己免受太阳有害射线的伤害，这对世界珊瑚礁造成了难以置信的破坏。

According to the National Park Service, 4,000 to 6,000 tons of sunscreen enter reef areas annually. But beachgoers aren't the only ones spreading these harmful chemicals. Kids on playgrounds and runners all come home and wash off the same chemicals, and those chemicals can also end up being swept out to sea.

根据国家公园管理局的数据，每年有4000到6000吨防晒霜进入珊瑚礁区域。但海滩游客并不是唯一传播这些有害化学物质的人。操场上的孩子和跑步者回家后都会洗掉同样的化学物质，这些化学物质最终也会被冲到海里。

This bleached coral could be the result of contact with oxybenzone, a common ingredient in sunscreen. But there's optimism that sunscreens containing titanium oxide or zinc oxide aren't as damaging to reefs. (Photo: Ethan Daniels/Shutterstock)

In some locations, including the Florida Keys, the coral couldn't reproduce because it didn't have sperm or eggs. The researchers dubbed them "zombie corals," saying they were essentially walking dead and would eventually die out.

在包括佛罗里达群岛在内的一些地方，由于没有精子和卵子，珊瑚无法繁殖。研究人员称它们为“僵尸珊瑚”，称它们实际上是行尸走肉，最终会灭绝。

However, two samples from the St. Croix area had complete reproductive ability. "Basically the places with the heaviest tourism had the most severe damage," said Fauth, who was also an investigator in the 2015 coral/sunscreen study and released another related study at the symposium. There, researchers found that oxybenzone is common in Hawaii, Florida and the U.S. Virgin Islands where concentrations peak during high tide.

然而，圣克罗伊地区的两个样本具有完全的生殖能力。“基本上，旅游最频繁的地方受到的破坏最严重，”福斯说，他也是2015年珊瑚/防晒霜研究的一名研究员，并在研讨会上发表了另一项相关研究。在那里，研究人员发现，氧苯酮在夏威夷、佛罗里达和美属维尔京群岛很常见，这些地方的浓度在涨潮时达到峰值。

"It's almost counterintuitive," said Fauth. "We think that aerosol sunscreen is to blame." That's because when you spray sunscreen, a lot of it lands on the sand or in the water. When the high tide comes in it collects all that overspray and pulls it out to sea.

“这几乎违反直觉，”福斯说。“我们认为气溶胶防晒霜是罪魁祸首。”这是因为当你喷洒防晒霜时，很多防晒霜会落在沙滩上或水中。当涨潮时，它会收集所有的过量的浪花并把它们拖到海里。

Locations that experience a lot of tourism tend to have the most coral reef damage. (Photo: Jolanta Wojcicka/Shutterstock)

The studies show that coral reefs are in more danger than we thought.

研究表明，珊瑚礁比我们想象的更危险。