For Reef ’s Sake

Hawaii became the first US state this year to ban the sale of any sunscreens containing ingredients linked to the harming or destruction of coral reefs: oxybenzone and octinoxate.

Since then, the US Virgin Islands and the island city of Key West in Florida have followed in Hawaii’s footsteps with similar bans. But it was the Pacific archipelago of Palau, which prides itself on being a “pristine paradise” for divers, that set the precedent