PALAU, at least two Caribbean islands, and several U.S. states and territories â including the CNMI â have banned certain types of sunscreen âdue to the damaging toll chemicals take on the environment,â as Brad Lenahan would put it in an online article. In the CNMI, Public Law 21-20 was signed by Gov. Ralph DLG Torres on April 3, 2020 to âban the importation of sunscreens that contain oxybenzone, or BP-3, and octinoxate.â Rep. Ivan A. Blanco authored the bill that became P.L. 21-20. According to the CNMI Division of Fish and Wildlife, which supported the bill, research âhas shown that both oxybenzone and octinoxate are highly toxic chemicals that kill juvenile coral. These chemicals are also blamed for increasing coral bleaching â making them vulnerable to stress even at temperatures below 87.8°F â and cause genetic damage to coral and other marine organisms.â