Microbeads are tiny polyethylene beads used widely in some personal care products.
They have different functions such as:
- Exfoliating agents in skincare products including body washes
- Texture enhancers by providing a silky texture in skin creams and lotions
- Facilitate the ability to spread skin creams and lotions
- Provide color in toothpaste to add visual appeal
What you should know about plastic microbeads.
Dental hygienists say they do more harm than good.
Dentists believe microbeads cause more harm than good. They do not biodegrade, dissolve or disintegrate. They can get stuck in crevices and cracks between the teeth, causing bacteria to build up at the gum line which leads to gingivitis and other unpleasant oral issues.
Microbeads are polluting large bodies of water.
One New-York- based report found almost 470,000 pieces of plastic per square kilometer of the Great Lakes, and most of them (81%) were microbeads. Fishes and birds may eat the beads thinking they are food and this causes terrible damage to wildlife and their habitat.
Legislation introduced to ban microbeads in cosmetics.
Illinois passed a law banning the sale of products containing plastic microbeads by the end of 2017, and a number of other states are considering similar bans. Frank Pallone, Jr. (D-NJ) introduced the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2014, which would prohibit the sale or distribution of personal care products that contain synthetic plastic microbeads, effective January 1, 2018. Maine signed a microbead ban just this week on April 14th 2015.
International Campaign launched against microbeads in cosmetics.
The Plastic Soup Foundation launched the Beat the Microbead app, which allows consumers to determine if products contain microbeads. This has caused many large companies to act. After Unilever announced in December 2012 that its products would be plastic free by 2015, other multinationals started following suit. Colgate-Palmolive and L’Oréal signed on immediately. Procter & Gamble said their products would be free from microbeads by 2017. Johnson & Johnson, The Body Shop, Henkel, LUSH have already started phasing microbeads out of their products.
Safer alternatives exist.
There are plenty of safer alternatives to microbeads that can be used in exfoliating scrubs such as rice, apricot seeds, walnut shells, powdered pecan shells, bamboo.
It appears that eliminating these pesky additives isn’t so hard after all.
Impact to your business
Questions to Consider:
- Do your products contain microbeads?
- Are you finding safer alternatives to microbeads?
For help with any issue associated with chemicals, contact Amanda Cattermole at (415) 412 8406 or Amanda@cattermoleconsulting.com. We can help you develop powerful solutions to protect your company and brand reputation that result in safer products manufactured in cleaner supply chains.
Tips and Insights contains information to help you make informed chemicals management decisions. Each post highlights a particular topic and includes questions for you to consider .