We are poisoning our waterways and ultimately ourselves with microplastics in cosmetics. Photo / Thinkstock
One evening while having a shower I reached for a bottle of face-wash that was on the shower rack. While scrubbing off the grime, the microbeads felt great, that was, until I read the ingredients on the back of the pack and saw that they were made of polyethylene: plastic.
I was shocked to realise that I had just unknowingly rinsed hundreds of tiny pieces of plastic into the wastewater system, meaning they were destined to head straight for the ocean.
This is the terrible reality of your regular, over-the-counter exfoliator. We are poisoning our fish (and ourselves if we eat seafood) in return for a silky smooth complexion.
Mark Browne, a scientist at the Centre for Ecological Impacts of Coastal Cities at the University of Sydney, has studied the consequences of microscopic plastic in marine habitats extensively. He says "as this debris occupies the same size range as sand grains and planktonic organisms, it is available to a wide range of invertebrates near the base of the food chain."
Plastics like polyethylene contain toxins (such as BPA and DHEA), which enter the food chain when they are consumed. When smaller organisms are consumed by predators, the toxins bioaccumulate - they get exponentially more potent.
