Florida Senate passes bill to block local bans on sunscreen

The Senate passed Republican State Sen. Bob Bradley’s legislation (SB 172) preempting local governments from banning certain types of sunscreen.

Senators signed off on the bill 25-14 with no debate. Those voting no included Democratic Sens. Janet Cruz, Randolph Bracy and Victor Torres.  

Senate President Bill Galvano voted for the legislation.

The City of Key West’s decision to ban sunscreen containing the chemicals oxybenzone and octinoxate prompted Bradley’s legislation and its companion bill by Rep. Spencer Roach (HB 113.) Environmental groups think sunscreens contribute to the bleaching of coral reefs. But Bradley has labeled that research “junk science.”

Bradley said local governments shouldn’t be banning sunscreen and thereby discouraging people from protecting their skin from cancer.

“Unfortunately, with all of the wonderful things that come with our beaches and our sunshine, we also rank second in the nation for the highest rate of new melanoma cases,” Bradley said during a November committee meeting.

Bradley said he has had spots of skin cancer removed from his face and points to a Miami Herald article describing Florida as the second in the nation for cases of melanoma. Data compiled in 2016 by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows that states with the highest rates of skin cancer are Utah, Vermont and Minnesota. 

Bradley points to the Florida Legislature’s Office of Program Policy Analysis and Government Accountability analysis of 18 studies looking at those chemicals as proof that there’s a lack of science proving sunscreen with oxybenzone and octinoxate cause coral reef damage. 

“You have to apply (the chemicals) directly, in an intense matter to the coral reefs over a long period of time in a little, small space. We are talking about a large ocean around the coral reefs here,” Bradley said in November.

The peer-reviewed studies compiled by OPPGA found that oxybenzone and octinoxate in sunscreens have negative effects on corals and marine life when exposed to “concentration levels generally not observed in nature.”  But the sponsors say the sunscreens only contain a maximum concentration level of 7.5%. Dermatologists generally say sunscreens with these chemicals are safe to use.

Roach’s bill passed the House Local, Federal and Veterans Affairs Subcommittee 9-6. The bill will be heard in the Health and Human Services Committee Thursday morning.

Information from the News Service of Florida was used in this report.