British MPs call for worldwide ban on toxic microbeads
- 8 years ago
LONDON — Members of the British Parliament are calling for a worldwide ban on microbeads, after the U.S. passed a law last year banning them in personal care products by July 2017.
Microbeads are tiny pieces of plastic added to cosmetics and cleaning products for their abrasive properties. Typically less than 1 millimeter in diameter, the particles are too small to be filtered out by sewage treatment plants. They often accumulate in lakes, rivers or the ocean.
The report from the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee said that a single shower flush 100,000 plastic particles into the sewage system. An estimated 86 tonnes of microplastics are released into the environment in the U.K. each year from facial scrubs alone.
A 2013 study published in the journal Environmental Pollution found that fish often mistake microbeads for food and ingest the plastic in large quantities. The toxic particles build up in their intestines and eventually cause health problems.
Scientists warn that the harmful effects of the plastics are not limited to marine animals, and may be felt throughout the food chain, according to a study from Sweden’s Uppsala University.
Microbeads are tiny pieces of plastic added to cosmetics and cleaning products for their abrasive properties. Typically less than 1 millimeter in diameter, the particles are too small to be filtered out by sewage treatment plants. They often accumulate in lakes, rivers or the ocean.
The report from the House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee said that a single shower flush 100,000 plastic particles into the sewage system. An estimated 86 tonnes of microplastics are released into the environment in the U.K. each year from facial scrubs alone.
A 2013 study published in the journal Environmental Pollution found that fish often mistake microbeads for food and ingest the plastic in large quantities. The toxic particles build up in their intestines and eventually cause health problems.
Scientists warn that the harmful effects of the plastics are not limited to marine animals, and may be felt throughout the food chain, according to a study from Sweden’s Uppsala University.