Did you know they are present in soaps, shower gels, facial scrubs and toothpastes? But why?
Microbeads are tiny plastic particles added to many cosmetics and personal care products, such as soaps, shower gels, facial scrubs and toothpastes as an efoliating agent.
Microbeads measure less than a millimetre. After a product with microbeads is used, the beads are flushed down the drain. They are so tiny they bypass wastewater treatment facilities and flow into lakes, rivers and oceans where they end up inside fish and other marine animals. As their stomachs fill up with the plastic, they eventually starve to death.
The Netherlands was the first country to ban cosmetic microbeads in 2014 and many other countries have followed suit. Despite the ban, a study that was conducted last year, has revealed that many personal care products in India including face washes and scrubs continue to have microbeads in them.
Picture Credit: Google