Table 4.
Brief description of coral toxicity studies examining the effects of ultraviolet (UV) filters evaluated as part of the case study
| Study | Species | Duration | Study compounds | Dosing | Endpoints | Comment |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Danovaro et al. (2008)a | Acropora sp., A. pulchra, Stylophora pistillata (adult) | Not reported | EHMC, BP3, AVO, OC, EHS, sunscreen formulation | 10–100 µL/L | Bleaching rate, bleaching initiation, algal density | Exposed wild adult coral in bags of filtered seawater in situ. Proposed that UV filters promoted viral infection, possibly playing an important role in coral bleaching |
| Downs et al. (2016) | S. pistillata (planulae); coral cells multiple speciesb | 8–24 h | BP3 | 22.8–228,000 µg/L | Mortality, deformity, DNA damage, chlorophyll fluorescence, coral cell mortality | Reported that BP3 induced ossification of planula (encasing planula entirely in own skeleton). Also reported BP3 was genotoxic and reduced chlorophyll fluorescence (NOECs) and derived an EC50 and LC50 for planulae deformity and mortality. Applied correction factor to coral cell toxicity data to represent planulae mortality |
| McCoshum et al. (2016) | Xenia spp. (adult) | 72 h exposure, 28‐day recovery | Sunscreen formulation (BP3, HMS, OC, EHS, AVO) | 0.26 ml/L | Growth | Soft coral species exposed to a sunscreen formulation containing multiple UV filters and inactive ingredients. Reduced growth was observed |
| Fel et al. (2019)a | S. pistillata (adult) | 35 days | OC, AVO | 10–5000 µg/Lc | Photosynthetic efficiency | Tried to identify whether UV filters affected coral symbionts similarly to the pesticide diuron. No adverse effects were observed up to UV filter solubility |
| He et al. (2019a) | Seriotopora caliendrum, Pocillopora damicornis (adult) | 7 days | EHMC, OC, co‐exposure of EHMC and OC, sunscreen formulation | 0.1–1000 µg/L | Mortality, bleaching, polyp retraction, algal density | S. caliendrum found to be more sensitive to EHMC than P. damicornis. Mortality increased in the sunscreen formulation exposures |
| He et al. (2019b)a | S. caliendrum, P. damicornis (adult and larvae) | 14 days (larvae); 7 days (adult) | BP3, BP4, BP8 | 0.1–1000 µg/Ld | Mortality, bleaching, polyp retraction, algal density, larval settlement | Adults were found to be more sensitive to benzophenones than larvae. An EC50 for larval settlement was able to be calculated for BP8. The remainder of endpoints reported were either LOECs or NOECs |
| Stien et al. (2019) | P. damicornis (adult) | 7 days | OC | 5–1000 µg/L | Polyp retraction, metabolomic changes | Identified OC transformation products in coral tissue that were lipophilic. The metabolomic profile indicated significant changes at 50 µg/L OC, whereas visually, coral polyps closed at 300 µg/L. The metabolic changes were hypothesized to be linked to mitochondrial dysfunction |
| Wijgerde et al. (2020) | S. pistillata, Acropora tenuis | 42 days | BP3 | 1 µg/L | Mortality, growth, algal density, photosynthetic yield | Studied the effect of temperature and BP3. The effect of temperature was significant for A. tenuis. Only minimal effects from BP3 exposure alone were observed for both species |
Other compounds were included in the study but are not included in this summary because it is limited to ultraviolet filters authorized for use in the United States (see Mitchelmore et al. 2021).
Coral cells were collected from Stylophora pistillata, Pocillopora damicornis, Acropora cervicornis, Monstasteae annularis, Monstasteae cavernosa, Porites astreoides, Porites divaricata.
OC dosing range 100–5000 µg/L; AVO dosing range 10–5000 µg/L.
BP8 dosing in the larvae settlement definitive test with S. caliendrum was 10–1000 µg/L.
AVO = butyl methoxydibenzoylmethane; BP3 = benzophenone‐3; BP4 = benzophenone‐4; BP8 = benzophenone‐8; EHMC = ethylhexyl methoxycinnamate; EHS = ethylhexyl salicylate; HMS = homosalate; OC = octocrylene.