Pesticides make the headlines dangerous for the environment. Others are less publicized and are nevertheless topical: in particular certain solar creams, which claim to be environmentally friendly! This is what a ANSES press release (National Agency for Food, Environmental and Work Health Safety) taking up data from an assessment published in June 2023, with very disturbing conclusions for the diversity of the marine world.
In collaboration with the French Biodiversity Office, the agency has concentrated its work on coral reefs, which house more than a quarter of world biodiversity, while they cover less than 1 % of the surface of the oceans. For the record, one fifth of these reefs has already been destroyed. There are, among other things, various types of pollution, overfishing, coastal arrangements as well as climate change.
A review of the scientific literature allowed ANSES to identify a hundred substances that can have toxic effects on coral species. They were studied in the waters of Guadeloupe, Martinique, Reunion and Mayotte.
- Among the 21 pesticides sought, 2 dangerous for the marine environment were identified: Chlordecone and Chlorpyrifos, especially in Guadeloupe and Martinique. The risk cannot be ruled out for 8 others (TBT, Profenofos, Permethrine, Naled, Monuron, Dichlorvos, Cyanures and Carbaryl).
- Among the 12 metals studied, 6 present risks (zinc, vanadium, manganese, iron, cobalt and aluminum). In Martinique, levels of aluminum, manganese and zinc exceed reference levels.
- Out of 11 UV filters present in solar creams, 5 were identified as being at risk (2-ethylhexyl, Enzacamène, Octocrylène, Benzophenone-3 and Octinoxate). Enzacamène is recognized as an endocrine disruptor for human health as for the marine ecosystem. The other products are suspected of being, in particular the octocrylene, which is the subject of a user -use file during the constitution. In the absence of data available in French waters, the risk was evaluated from the concentrations reported in the scientific literature in other marine areas.
In fact, the number of chemicals that have been studied is very low, especially since there are in the oceans of other groups than pesticides, metals and UV filters. These are in particular hydrocarbons, pharmaceuticals and microplastics. Their evaluation is difficult for lack of robust data. In any case, ” If we want to give a chance to coral reefs to deal with the effects of climate change, which will be increasingly intense in the coming years, it is essential to preserve the quality of the water and to intensify the fight against pollution at all scales ».
In particular, it is necessary that the deceptive allegations of certain solar products containing substances identified in this work and pretending that they are respectful of the environment.