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  • RESEARCH HIGHLIGHT

Engineered sunscreen protects skin — and leaves coral unscathed

Conventional sunscreens can bleach coral reefs, but new formulation is coral-safe.
Composite of eight images showing the bleaching effect of different UV filters on four pieces of coral

Coral from the genus Acropora exposed, left to right, to a control solution, a coral-friendly sunscreen compound, and the conventional sunscreens oxybenzone and avobenzone. The top row is Day 0; the bottom row is after 10 days of exposure. Credit: Y. Zeng et al./Cell Rep. Phys. Sci.

A new sunscreen could protect fragile corals in addition to our skin1.

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Nature 615, 190 (2023)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-023-00564-6

References

  1. Zeng, Y. et al. Cell Rep. Phys. Sci. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.xcrp.2023.101308 (2023).

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