Sunscreen in the Waters — Resource managers at the Virgin Islands National Park (VINP) on St. John, U.S. Virgin Islands, are concerned about the negative effects of sunscreen chemicals in coastal waters of the park. Often included in cosmetic and plastic products to minimize the damaging effects of ultraviolet light, sunscreen chemicals can be toxic to some aquatic organisms if the concentrations are high enough. With over a million tourists visiting the park each year, the probability is high that the coastal waters of VINP are contaminated by sunscreen chemicals.

A recent USGS study sampled water in several VINP bays and analyzed the samples for sunscreen chemicals. The study found sunscreen chemicals in some samples at concentrations among the highest reported anywhere in the world. Also, the data indicated that beaches, or the visitors to the beaches, were the primary source for the sunscreen chemicals in VINP waters. More studies are planned to gain a better understanding of sunscreen chemical contamination at VINP. Read more about this research at on.doi.gov/SunscreenWaters.