At the beginning of the year, President Barack Obama signed into law a Microbead-Free ban prohibiting microbeads in US beauty products.
Unfortunately, the ban will not come into effect until July 1, 2017. Thus, plastic unnatural microbeads continue to pollute our oceans enough to coat the surface of 300 tennis courts every day!
Keep in mind though that the list is not comprehensive and I discovered three more products in my home that contain microbeads, so you should always check a cleanser's ingredient list for polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate, polylactic acid, or nylon— since these are the most common plastics that make up microbeads. Most of the time though you can simply see the plastic beads floating in the mixture and can spot them visually.
Have YOU been using environmentally harmful microbeads in your beauty routine?
What is a Microbead?
A microbead is any solid plastic particle that is less than 5 millimeters and is used for the purpose of exfoliating or cleansing. These tiny plastic beads can be found in hundreds of household products ranging from body scrubs to toothpastes.Why are Microbeads bad?
These beads while not harmful to humans, wash down our drains and because they are made of plastic, they do not dissolve and are too small to be caught by waste water treatment facilities. Instead, they are flushed directly into our lakes, rivers and streams. Besides the waste in our waterways, fish then consume the beads thinking it's food and then we eat the fish and plastic too.Unfortunately, the ban will not come into effect until July 1, 2017. Thus, plastic unnatural microbeads continue to pollute our oceans enough to coat the surface of 300 tennis courts every day!
Microbeads in your beauty products ...
I immediately consulted a list to see what beauty products contained microbeads and was shocked that I've been using two of them regularly and continue see them still being sold in stores.- Clean & Clear Morning Burst
- Crest 3D White toothpaste
Keep in mind though that the list is not comprehensive and I discovered three more products in my home that contain microbeads, so you should always check a cleanser's ingredient list for polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate, polylactic acid, or nylon— since these are the most common plastics that make up microbeads. Most of the time though you can simply see the plastic beads floating in the mixture and can spot them visually.
- Murad Essential C-cleanser
- Bliss fabulous foaming face wash
- Bath & Body Works Deep Cleansing Hand Soap (will stick to their foaming ones instead of the gel)
Have YOU been using environmentally harmful microbeads in your beauty routine?
