Bill Text: HI SR24 | 2018 | Regular Session | Introduced

---

Bill Title: Requesting The Department Of Health And John A. Burns School Of Medicine To Collaborate With Various Stakeholders To Study The Impact Of Oxybenzone And Octinoxate On Humans, Particularly Pregnant Women.

Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2018-03-12 - Referred to CPH/HRE. [SR24 Detail]

Download: Hawaii-2018-SR24-Introduced.html

---

THE SENATE	S.R. NO.	24
TWENTY-NINTH LEGISLATURE, 2018
STATE OF HAWAII

SENATE RESOLUTION

 

 

requesting the department of health and john A. burns school of medicine to collaborate with various stakeholders to study the impact of oxybenzone and OCTINOXATE on humans, particularly pregnant women.

 

 

     WHEREAS, oxybenzone and octinoxate have significant impacts on Hawaii's marine environment and ecosystems; and

 

     WHEREAS, a swimmer's use of sunscreen containing these compounds can be released into the ocean when the swimmer enters the water or through the waste mist plume of spray-on sunscreen; and

 

     WHEREAS, these compounds act as pseudo-persistent pollutants in Hawaii's coastal waters, meaning that their environmental contamination levels are constantly sustained or elevated by swimmers, beachgoers, and other water users; and

 

     WHEREAS, elevated levels of oxybenzone and octinoxate have been detected at popular swimming beaches and critical coral reef areas throughout the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, reports and studies have reported oxybenzone and octinoxate concentrations inducing feminization in adult male fish and increasing reproductive diseases in marine invertebrate species, such as sea urchins, vertebrate species, such as wrasses, eels, and parrotfish, and mammals, in species similar to the Hawaiian monk seal; and

 

     WHEREAS, these compounds also induce deformities in the embryonic development of fish, sea urchins, coral, and shrimp and induce neurological behavioral changes in fish that threaten the continuity of fish populations; and

 

     WHEREAS, a recent study, co-authored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, indicates that oxybenzone concentrations were significantly higher in older, married, or employed mothers, and individuals with normal body mass index, higher educational attainment, or higher household income, or who are non-Hispanic white; and

 

     WHEREAS, the study further reported that oxybenzone levels were sixty-two percent higher in individuals who consumed seafood at least five times a month; and

 

     WHEREAS, other studies have shown that humans can exhibit developmental pathologies, especially fetal-development diseases associated with prenatal exposure to oxybenzone, and that Hirschsprung's disease has been linked to maternal exposure to oxybenzone by interfering with the migration neural crest cells during embryonic development; and

 

     WHEREAS, marine life, such as fish, compose a significant share of an individual's diet in Hawaii; and

 

     WHEREAS, marine life such as fish, shrimp, and eel are served at restaurants and other eateries and sold at fish markets, grocery stores, and supermarkets in the State; and

 

     WHEREAS, the health effects associated with oxybenzone and octinoxate are a public health concern and priority; now, therefore,

 

     BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Twenty-ninth Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2018, that the Department of Health and John A. Burns School of Medicine are requested to collaborate with county, state, and federal agencies, private and nonprofit organizations, and other stakeholders to study the impact of oxybenzone and octinoxate on humans, particularly pregnant women; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the Department of Health and John A. Burns School of Medicine are requested to complete a report of their findings and recommendations, including any proposed legislation, by December 1, 2019, and submit the report to the Legislature by January 5, 2020; and

 

     BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Director of Health and Dean of the John A. Burns School of Medicine.

 

 

 

	OFFERED BY:	_____________________________

Report Title: 

Oxybenzone; Octinoxate; Marine Life; Pregnant Women