Most of us do our part to prevent plastic waste littering our
environment; we recycle, take re-useable shopping bags to the grocery store and
drink from reusable bottles. However, we may not be aware of the hidden plastics
in common consumer products such as bath and beauty products.
These hidden plastics are called Microplastics and are
smaller than 1mm in diameter. These micro plastics are ubiquitous in shower
products and cosmetics.
When we shower and use these products, these Microplastics wash down the drain and travel to
water treatment plants. The filtration technologies of most water treatment
plants are ineffective at removing these tiny plastics due to their small size
and subsequently these Microplastics enter the aquatic ecosystem. Here microplastics
pose an immediate two-fold threat to the ecosystem, first through the adsorption
and concentration of organic pollutants and secondly, as a delivery vessel for these
pollutants into food webs via ingestion and bioaccumulation. Yet, the ecosystem
impacts from microplastics remains largely unknown, and more research is still needed.
What can you do?
To find out
if a product contains microplastics, look for polyethylene or polystyrene
on the ingredients list. The good news is that there are plenty of
products now in the market that do use natural alternatives. Or you could make your
own. I found this article here for DIY
bath products.
Sign this petition: Cosmetic manufacturers: Stop contributing to marine plastic pollution with your exfoliating scrubs
More Information
Last year the Guardian published a great article on this
topic. This article can be found here
That makes a lot of sense. I'll try to convince my mom to make her own soap from now on!
ReplyDeleteThat's great! Making your own would be a lot of fun, you can experiment with different oils and fragrances,hopefully your mum will enjoy too.
ReplyDelete