Advertisement

If you have an ACS member number, please enter it here so we can link this account to your membership. (optional)

ACS values your privacy. By submitting your information, you are gaining access to C&EN and subscribing to our weekly newsletter. We use the information you provide to make your reading experience better, and we will never sell your data to third party members.

ENJOY UNLIMITED ACCES TO C&EN

Environment

UN Calls For Microbead Ban

by Cheryl Hogue
June 15, 2015 | A version of this story appeared in Volume 93, Issue 24

[+]Enlarge
Credit: Instagram/5 Gyres Institute
The UN is advising against replacing polyethylene microbeads in personal care products with polylactic acid polymer spheres.
Plastic nurdles by the 100s on the shores of Lake Erie.
Credit: Instagram/5 Gyres Institute
The UN is advising against replacing polyethylene microbeads in personal care products with polylactic acid polymer spheres.

A United Nations agency is calling for personal product and cosmetic makers to globally phase out the plastic microbeads used in some toothpastes, shower gels, deodorants, eye shadows, nail polishes, and other items. When washed off people’s bodies and down drains, the tiny spheres, which are less than 1 mm in diameter and sometimes nanometer-sized, aren’t removed by sewage treatment plants and end up in oceans or lakes, the UN Environment Programme points out in a report. It cites concerns that the tiny plastic spheres can facilitate the movement of toxic pollutants from oceans and other water bodies to fish that people eat. These microplastics, which can take centuries to break down, can also harm aquatic animals who mistake the tiny particles for food. The report, issued last week, also warns against the use of beads made of biodegradable polylactic acid plastic as a substitute for widely used polyethylene microspheres. Biobased polylactic acid polymers, it says, “only degrade when subjected to high temperatures in industrial settings.”

Article:

This article has been sent to the following recipient:

0 /1 FREE ARTICLES LEFT THIS MONTH Remaining
Chemistry matters. Join us to get the news you need.