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Home My WebLink AboutCOM 0771.450 2020-2022 �«�L* �[) /�m^m / � / [J\ L& Aloha Chair Rebecca VlUega4Co-Chair Heather Kimball, and mennbersofth�Co�� ! �nC|inoate ]0� Y � Resilience & Natural Management; My name is Jeff Bagshaw and I am the Outreach and Information Specialist with the state's Division of Forestry and Wildlife. Myself and volunteers have been doing outreach on this issue with the public at Ahihi-Kinau Natural Area Reserve since 2015 and together we have logged hundreds of hours and talked toroughly 4,0O0to5,UDOpeople each year. Although I'm aMaui resident,vveshare the same ocean, including larval fish and corals that travel between our islands, so mahalo for having the courage to address this important issue. Bill 167 will remove environmentally hazardous materials that have been plaguing our islands for decades. it does what we have been unable to do with thousands of hours of outreach and education. It recognizes that relying on consumers to make the right choices has not been enough,especially in the face ofadvertising campaigns and green-washing marketing. 1. Bill 167solves the problem atthe store-where the problem begins. Education/outreach at the water's edge,where people may not have other alternatives or have to change plans, is difficult and reaches only a minority even with an army of staff or volunteers and signage. As stated above, I've been doing this kind ofwork for years. 2. Bill 167 makes it clear that we are not fooled:we know that just re-formulating and renaming each newly fabricated compound from a laboratory does not suddenly make a product safe for people orthe environment. 3. Bill 167 not only protects our reefs and all species that rely on them, it protects our food resources from contamination by products that are not necessary for sun protection in people. This is an issue of environmental justice: one consumer's choice of using toxic sun-protection products does not override the rights of others to fish or gather sea foods without benzenes in them. Some dermatologists who make and sell their own sun-care products may defend chemical sunscreens, yet dermatologists who do not make/market products say that mineral sun-bocks work to prevent both UVA and UVB rays from reaching your lower dermal layer,where skin-cancer damage begins. Between 2009 and 2018 the National Cancer Institute has recorded a rise in skin cancer rates of 1.4% annually(12.6%overall), despite the availability of petrochemical sunscreens. If petrochemical sunscreen compounds are so effective why have skin cancer rates continued to climb since their widespread introduction onto the market beginning in1978? Industry will claim that its important to maintain "choices"for consumers because some people,for reasons of vanity, because of the way the"pasty white stuff" looks,won't use mineral sun-blocks and that some react badly. Minerals used in sunblocks are mixed with oils and other additives which very rarely create reactions, but not all products are the some, and one formulation may be better than another for sensitive skin, so rare allergic reactions are not an adequate excuse to continue selling petroleum-based sunscreens. There's apossibility ofrisk inevery option (except dothing). Can industry representatives tell us the percentage of people who have reactions to chemical sunscreens versus the number ofpeople who have reactions tomineral sun-b|ocks? Can the industry share statistics ofthe number of people who suffer from second-hand exposure to benzines(who do not have a choice)versus Comm. No. ~ R' ^ Ref.To: Ref. Date I a f those who get skin cancer? Can we compare economic loss of petrochemical sales to economic costs of j contaminated food, damaged reefs, loss of tourism and loss of shoreline protection? t This isn't just about reefs for pretty fish to see when snorkeling. Its also about our food resources, its a matter of environmental justice. Testing chemical toxicity in a lab setting is the only way to accurately assess effects on some marine organisms. But for skeptics that doubt that time-tested method, here are three studies of data taken from wild animals that show these compounds bioaccumulate,they move up the food chain and are stored in the liver and other organs: • A 2020 study published in the journal Elsevier showed four common sunscreen agents in blood samples from juvenile Loggerhead sea turtles caught off the coast of Italy. Loggerheads eat invertebrates. Humans in Hawaii eat invertebrates such as crab, lobster,tako, and opihi. • A 2018 study published in Elsevier showed several fish species form a freshwater lake in China had high concentrations of these compounds in liver and gill tissues. Fish eat algae, invertebrates and smaller fish. Humans in Hawaii eat limu, invertebrates and fish. • A 2013 study published in Environmental Science and Technology showed that petrochemical sunscreen compounds were present in liver samples from 70%of wild Francisana dolphins off the coast of Brazil, showing that these compounds bioaccumulate through the food web. Dolphin species everywhere eat fish. Humans in Hawai'i eat fish. These compounds are showing up in the tissues of people who have never used sunscreens,they are based on what chemists call benzines, rings of carbon. Attached is a-diagram of two petrochemical compounds versus zinc and titanium. Even if you are not a chemist,you can see that the more complex petrochemical molecule contain six-sided hexagons—benzene rings—the same building block taken from petroleum and used in plastics, solvents and pesticides. They are designed to absorb a photon of sunlight, then break-down, releasing heat, raising the temperature of your skin—this is one reason why it affects corals and causes them to bleach. This is the definition of a chemical reaction, and its happening within your skin cells. The remnants of the chemical structures, benzine rings, are now free to travel in your body, into your bloodstream,through your endocrine system and eventually into your urine. Mineral sun-blocks are not absorbed by your skin, they sit on the surface, reflecting sunlight. We have always had choices that have worked for generations: cover-up, seek shade between 10 and 2, use sun-blocks. All the major manufactures already make and sell mineral-based sun-protection,they just aren't as profitable because they can't be patented. Many of those I have talked with over the years have expressed one thing: "I just wish these things were illegal to sell J were off the market." We ban the sale or use of many destructive products in our society. If oversight for one industry is missing on higher levels, its prudent for local governments to protect their resources and people. Thank you for doing this important work. Hawaii Island and Maui County can lead the way! Jeff Bagshaw I i i Information and Outreach Specialist Hawaii Division of Forestry and Wildlife Maui IVui Branch (808)264-7891 I j I