Australia has a complicated relationship with sunscreen. On one hand, the country's high UV index — particularly in tropical and subtropical regions — makes sunscreen use a genuine public health priority: Australia has one of the highest rates of skin cancer in the world, and regular application of SPF 50+ sunscreen is a central pillar of national health guidance. On the other hand, the millions of Australians who apply sunscreen before entering the ocean each year are, collectively, introducing significant quantities of chemical UV filters into marine environments that are already under considerable stress.
Two chemical UV filters in particular — oxybenzone and octinoxate — have attracted scientific attention for their potential to damage coral reefs. Laboratory studies have demonstrated that even very low concentrations of these compounds can induce bleaching-like stress responses in coral larvae, disrupt the reproductive systems of sea urchins and other reef invertebrates, and affect the developmental biology of fish. While the relative contribution of sunscreen chemicals to overall reef stress is a subject of ongoing scientific debate, several major reef destinations around the world have introduced bans or restrictions on products containing these compounds.
The Australian Research
The research team, based at a Queensland coastal university, approached the problem from a materials science perspective rather than a conventional cosmetic chemistry angle. Rather than seeking to replace problematic chemical UV filters with alternative synthetic compounds — an approach that has produced some commercially available reef-safe products but has faced questions about whether the replacement chemicals are genuinely benign at scale — the team explored whether naturally derived compounds from Australian marine organisms themselves could form the basis of an effective UV filter system.
The inspiration came from an observation that certain species of coral and associated microalgae synthesise their own UV-absorbing compounds — known as mycosporine-like amino acids (MAAs) — that protect them from the intense solar radiation of shallow tropical waters. These compounds have evolved over hundreds of millions of years to absorb UV radiation efficiently without generating the reactive oxygen species that can cause cellular damage, and they are readily broken down by marine microorganisms when they enter the water column.
How the New Formulation Works
The research team developed a process for producing MAAs at scale through a fermentation-based manufacturing method, addressing one of the primary obstacles to their commercial use: the difficulty and expense of obtaining sufficient quantities from natural marine sources. The synthetic production pathway uses marine microalgae cultivated in controlled bioreactor environments, a process that requires no extraction from wild populations and produces compounds chemically identical to those found in natural reef organisms.
When formulated into a sunscreen base, the MAA-based active ingredients demonstrated SPF ratings of 30 and above in standardised testing, with broad-spectrum protection across both UVA and UVB wavelengths — meeting the requirements for regulatory approval as a sunscreen product in Australia. The formulation showed no acute toxicity to coral larvae in testing at concentrations significantly higher than those expected in typical reef environments.
"What we've done is essentially borrow the sun protection strategy that reefs have spent hundreds of millions of years perfecting, and worked out how to make it available to humans at a price point that could be commercially viable. If this technology reaches the market, people can protect themselves from the sun without worrying about what they're putting on the reef."
Path to Commercial Availability
The research is currently at the stage of independent testing and regulatory assessment prior to seeking approval for commercial sale. The team has engaged with several Australian and international cosmetics manufacturers who have expressed interest in licensing the technology, and the university's commercialisation office is managing negotiations.
Regulatory approval for new sunscreen active ingredients in Australia requires assessment by the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA), a process that typically takes two to three years and involves extensive safety and efficacy documentation. The research team is optimistic that the natural origin of the MAA compounds and their existing presence in the marine food chain will support a favourable regulatory assessment, though they caution that the timeline to commercial availability remains uncertain.
Broader Implications
Beyond their potential role as sunscreen active ingredients, MAAs have attracted interest for other applications in cosmetics and personal care, including as antioxidant additives in moisturisers and after-sun products. The research team's manufacturing process, if it proves commercially scalable, could supply compounds for multiple product categories simultaneously, improving the economics of production.
For Australia's reef ecosystems, any reduction in chemical inputs from recreational users represents a meaningful marginal benefit in the context of multiple stressors — though researchers are careful to note that sunscreen chemicals, while a legitimate concern, represent a relatively minor contribution to overall reef stress compared with ocean warming, water quality and crown-of-thorns starfish outbreaks. The real value of reef-safe sunscreen, they suggest, may be as much symbolic as ecological — a signal that consumer choices and commercial innovation can be aligned with reef conservation rather than working against it.
