WHO: Senator Mike Gabbard and Representative Gene Ward (other legislators who co-sponsored the bill may also appear)
Other participants will include Lisa Bishop, Friends of Hanauma Bay; Cindi Punihaole, Executive Director of the Kohala Center’s Kahalu‘u Bay Education Center; Mendy Dant, Executive Vice President, Fair Wind Cruises Kona Sunrise Charters; members of the Kaiser High School Wipeout Crew, and Joe DiNardo, Research Scientists Emeritus and retired toxicologist
WHAT: Discussion of bipartisan bill, SB 2778, to ban all sunscreen SPF products that are not “Generally Recognized as Safe and Effective” (GRSE) by the U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA)
WHEN: 2 p.m., Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020
WHERE: State Capitol Rotunda
This legislation builds upon the 2018 law in which Hawai‘i banned the sale of sunscreens containing oxybenzone and octinoxate, which will go into effect on January 1, 2021.
This new bill is intended to address concerns about certain sunscreen ingredients on human health. Recent FDA studies have demonstrated potential negative health effects of a number of other ingredients that are still allowed in Hawai‘i.
Under this legislation, only zinc oxide and titanium dioxide sunscreens would be allowed to be sold in Hawai‘i, as these are the only two ingredients that are “Generally Recognized as Safe and Effective” by the FDA.
Link to SB 2778: https://www.capitol.hawaii.gov/measure_indiv.aspx?billtype=SB&billnumber=2778&year=2020
Links to informational graphics in relation to news conference:
Sources of Oxybenzone Contamination: file:///C:/Users/sencomm1.CAPITOL/Desktop/Oxybenzone%20contamination-toxicities_Print.pdf
Sunscreen Chemicals and Marine Life (Courtesy NOAA): https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/sunscreen-corals.html
A hearing on SB 2778 by the Senate Committee on Agriculture and Environment will be held at 1:30 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 5, 2020, in room 224.