Polyethylene Microbeads

By Eva Lewandowski

Just last week, a number of news outlets carried stories about toothpastes that contain tiny pieces of plastic, called polyethylene microbeads. These microbeads are found in a wide variety of toothpastes, including some of the very popular brand Crest. Dentists and dental hygienists began seeing more and more patients with tiny bits of plastic embedded in their gums, since the beads don’t break down or degrade in any way. Happily, some brands, including Crest, have pledged to phase out the polyethylene beads.

Unfortunately, toothpaste is not the only product that contains polyethylene microbeads. Many body washes and facial scrubs use them as exfoliators. Check the ingredients on the products in your bathroom; you might be surprised how many of them contain plastic! Regardless of whether they’re found in toothpaste, cosmetics, or face washes, these bits of polyethylene almost always end up washed down our sink. Since they don’t biodegrade, and they’re not filtered out during waste water treatment, these microbeads end up in our lakes, rivers, and oceans. There, they are ingested by fish and tiny organisms called zooplankton. These are in turn eaten by larger and larger fish, as well as humans, so that eventually the entire food web has the potential to be contaminated by polyethylene microbeads.

The idea of washing your face or brushing your teeth with tiny bits of plastic doesn’t sound that appealing. Contaminating our waters and aquatic ecosystems with plastic sounds even worse, and eating fish filled with plastic microbeads doesn’t appeal to anyone at all. So, the next time you’re purchasing a product, read the ingredients label carefully. If it says that it contains polyethylene, steer clear and find another option.

The website www.beatthemicrobead.org contains information on products that contain microbeads, as well as companies who have stopped using them. Visit their site for more information, or check out the website of the individual company you are interested in to see if they have a policy about microbeads.

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