I had no idea that most exfoliating body washes, cleansers and other products contain thousands of plastic microbeads that are polluting our waterways.
These microbeads are typically listed as terephthalate (PET) and polyethylene (PE) or polypropylene (PP).
Just one 5 ounce bottle of cleanser can contain more than 300,000 microbeads.
Neutrogena’s “Deep Clean”, contained an estimated 360,000 microbeads in a single tube!
These tiny balls of plastic get washed down the drain and because they are too small to be filtered by water treatment systems they end up in our lakes, oceans and rivers.
In 2013 a study found that microplastics found in Lake Erie make up 90% of the total plastics found.
These plastic microbeads never biodegrade and will remain at the bottom of our lakes, rivers and oceans until they are consumed my marine life. These plastic particles also act as sponges, soaking up a million times more toxic chemicals than the water around it. Once the particles are eaten the toxins can pass into the tissues of fish and other marine animals. Then eventually the toxins end up in our food chain.
We can help today by signing 5 Gyres petition which is to get retailers to stop selling consumer products that contain plastic microbeads. They also want legislators to execute a ban on microbeads in consumer products. You can read more about the petition and how you can help on their website.
We can also start buying products that don’t contain microbead plastics. Products that use natural ingredients are readily available and can cleanse and exfoliate our skin just as good as others. Products can use alternative ingredients to exfoliate such as apricot kernel shells, almonds, sea salt, sugar, rice, jojoba beads, polenta and aduki beans that won’t harm the ecosystem.
I’m going to read the ingredient list from now on and stay away from products that contain plastic microbeads. I’m very curious and am now going to go through all my products and see if they contain these plastic microbeads. If I find any products that contain them I will list them below so you know to stay clear of them as well.
Did you sign the petition?
Products I found in my bathroom that contain microbeads…
Clean & Clear Deep Action Exfoliating Scrub – I love this products, it’s one of my favourite scrubs and I even wrote a review about it. I guess I will have to stop buying it until they switch the ingredients.
