Palau Becomes World's First Nation to ban ‘Reef-toxic’ Sun Cream

In a bid to safeguard and protect coral reef and other sea life from declining, the Pacific nation of Palau has announced to ban sun cream containing chemicals linked to coral bleaching, thus becoming the first country in the world to do so.
From January 01, 2020, sunscreen that includes ingredients such as oxybenzone and octinoxate (chemicals that absorb ultraviolet A rays) would no longer be allowed to be applied or sold in the country to safeguard the island nation’s environment from tourists.
Earlier, in 2018, Hawaii also announced similar legislation to impose ban against sunscreen that contained the toxic chemicals. The law in Hawaii will come into effect from January 1, 2021.
As per the International Coral Reef Foundation, the banned chemicals are ‘known environmental pollutants’ which are incredibly toxic to juvenile stages of many wildlife species.