Microbeads for exfoliating contaminate the aquatic and constitute a potential threat to public health.
Exfoliating microbeads are microspheres made mainly from polyethylene (PE?) and polypropylene (PP), which are used in personal care products, such as body exfoliating, cleansers and toothpastes.
Barely visible to the human eye, these plastic beads flow straight down bathroom plug-holes into drainage systems, escaping water processing plants.
They are not biodegradable and cannot be removed. Thus, they end up in lakes, rivers and finally our seas and oceans. Scientists estimate in America alone more than 8 trillion microbeads -enough to cover 300 tennis courts- make their way into water supplies every day!
They are often mistaken for food and absorbed by marine life, thus pervading the entire marine food chain.
Although the extent of the damage is currently unknown, this problem is having a tremendous impact not only on the environment but also on public health.
Governments and industry worldwide have begun to take action
In December 2015, President Obama signed legislation banning the manufacture of personal care products, such as face peeling products and toothpastes, which contain microbeads.
Several federal governments, as well as a number of countries including Denmark, the UK and Australia, are working with the industry to secure a gradual voluntary abolition of plastic microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products in the near future.
More recently, the organization responsible for European legislation on cosmetics (Cosmetics Europe), announced publicly that it will “discontinue the use of cosmetics which are very likely to end up in the aquatic environment and for which alternatives exist”, issuing a recommendation to this sector with the aim of putting a stop to the use of microbeads in cosmetics and personal care products for exfoliation and cleansing.
A number of corporate giants in the field of cosmetics as well as several retail companies have already committed themselves to stopping the production and sale of certain products.
