Look for the word “microbeads” on the label of face wash or other cosmetic products such as shampoo, hand cleansers, soaps, toothpastes, shaving foam, and bubble bath. According to a study published in the Marine Pollution Bulletin by Imogen E. Napper, microbeads in these products are extremely harmful to the environment and can easily affect people.
The study revealed microbeads are harmful to the environment because it looks like food to marine life. This includes plankton, mussels, and other small marine life. These animals are food to bigger predators such as other fish, sharks, and whales. Once the plastic is inside them, it can tear up their intestines or transmit toxins into the fish, as microbeads were shown to absorb DDT and other dangerous toxins. Rough microbeads were also shown to absorb more toxins than smooth microbeads.
Tey Wilson, a senior studying biology with a marine emphasis from Laie, said, “Normally people don’t think that something so small would have an impact on our waters.”
Microbeads have been used as a cheaper option for products instead of organic, natural exfoliating materials such as pumice or oatmeal, said the study. “There are lots of natural things you can use,” said Katie Niedererr, a sophomore studying marine biology from Pennsylvania. “They’re better for your skin too,” she added.
According to the study, there is no way to effectively remove “microplastic contamination once it is in the environment.” Reasons are that they become too dispersed in the water, the scale they are spread out is too large, and to clean it up will be extremely expensive and could harm marine life. Plastic resists degradation, so the amount of plastic and microbeads will keep mounting.
McKenzie Painter, a junior studying marine biology from Utah, said she used to use Neutrogena grapefruit face scrub for years until she found out about microbeads. “So I stopped using it, and now I use a microbead free face wash,” she said. Microbeads is one name, but they are also called microspheres, nanospheres, or plastic particulates, said the study. They are small, microscopic pieces of plastic that can come from cosmetic products or the wear and tear of plastics already floating in the ocean. These come from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, other trash floating around, and more.
“They’re not just microbeads in facewash,” said Michelle Bennett, a senior studying marine biology from Arizona. “It's in boats, sunken ships,” she added. According to the study, microbeads will go through your sink, through pipes and straight through wastewater treatment plants due to their microscopic size. From wastewater plants they will enter rivers, lakes, and oceans and become available to marine life, said the study.
Per face wash, there can be up to 4,594 to 94,500, the study says. The U.S. alone would be emitting 263 tons a year, according to the study. “Everything’s connected,” Painter said, pointing out that even if you live on a mountain far away from water, you are still connected to the ocean and affecting it.“
In western civilization we’re so unattached from the repercussions of our consumerism,” pointed out Painter. “We don't see it first hand...but other places in the world, they have to see it because they are almost living on the land on itself.”
“In conclusion, cosmetic exfoliants are a potentially important, yet preventable source of microplastic contamination in the marine environment,” said the study, written by Imogen E. Napper.