In the introductory blog, we briefly touched upon primary microplastics, what they are and the ways in which they harm the environment. This post aims to delve deeper into the history behind microplastic usage, as well as exactly how much damage they can do to our environment.
To jog your memory, primary microplastics are essentially microplastics that are manufactured specifically for use in cosmetics and cleaning products. This means that when they enter the environment, they are already five millimetres or smaller, and can exist as microscopic bits in water bodies, soils and other parts of the environment.
You might then wonder, what’s the difference between microplastics and microbeads?
Microbeads are a subcategory of microplastics, with its use limited solely to the cosmetic industry. These include Polypropylene (PP), Polyethylene (PE) and Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) (Beat the Microbead, n.a.) – yes, the same plastics used to make your disposable water bottles and plastic bags!
Despite how commonplace microbeads are in so many of our skincare products, they weren’t commonly used until the 1990s, when the personal care market exploded with unprecedented demand. Cosmetics and personal care products became much more affordable as a result of new technology that could manufacture these products faster than ever (Kumar, 2005). As the costs of cosmetics and skincare products fell drastically, the demand within the market skyrocketed, no longer a luxury product that only the richest could afford. This call for more personal care products led to producers turning towards microbeads, be it for their smoother texture, ability to exfoliate or as a way to fill up their products (Perschbacher, 2016). As a cheaper alternative, it was also much easier to source and mass-produce, which appealed to profit-oriented manufacturers. It would be mind-blowing to think that just over 30 years ago, women still relied fully on natural ingredients like salt, pumice and cocoa beans, especially when a large majority of our cosmetics today use synthetics and microbeads to achieve the same exfoliating properties.
The usage of microbead-filled products and release of microbeads into the environment has increased exponentially over the past two decades, and doesn’t seem to be slowing. In a single bottle of facewash, there is an approximate 100,000 microbeads, and taking a shower could cause 100,000 microplastic pieces to go down the drain (O’Sullivan, 2017). When you put that into the perspective of a nation like Singapore with a population of 5.639 million, that’s over 5 trillion microbeads entering our sewage systems and water systems in a single day, or 31,000,000 kilograms of microplastics. Such immense numbers are almost unfathomable, and to think that this is coming from Singapore alone. What about the rest of the world and their microbeads? These figures are the shocking reminder we need to take prompt action to cut out our microbead face washes and toothpastes, otherwise the consequences on the environment would be terrifying.
Bibliography:
Beat the Microbead. n.d. FAQ Microplastics And Microbeads in Cosmetics – Beat the Microbead. Retrieved 3 September 2020, from https://www.beatthemicrobead.org/faq/.
Kumar, S., 2005. Exploratory analysis of global cosmetic industry: major players, technology and market trends. Technovation, 25(11), 1263-1272. Retrieved 3 September 2020, from https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0166497204001099.
O’Sullivan, K., 2017. Microbeads: The Facts, The Fears and The Fight Have Them Banned. The Irish Times. Retrieved 3 September 2020, from https://www.irishtimes.com/news/environment/microbeads-the-facts-the-fears-and-the-fight-have-them-banned-1.3112511.
Perschbacher, E., 2016. History And Evolution Of The Microbead | International Joint Commission. [online] International Joint Commission. Retrieved 3 September 2020, from https://www.ijc.org/en/history-and-evolution-microbead#:~:text=Of%20the%20microplastics%20pollution%20in,least%2020%20percent%20are%20microbeads.&text=Early%20patents%20for%20microbeads%20in,innovation%20in%20personal%20care%20products.
