The alarming aspects of plastics
Plastics are so much a part of our modern life. We come across them daily in the packaging of food and drinks, in household items such as combs, toothbrushes and pens and (despite protests from the ecologically minded) in shopping bags. Most forms of plastic are cheap enough to be used once and thrown away. They are so common that we don’t stop to wonder what they actually are, and how they are made.
Plastics are formed as polymers from simple reactive chemical structures linked together. They come out from the factory looking like resin pellets and are known in the trade as ‘nurdles’, a basic commodity that can be moulded into bottles and other containers, cast as shapes such as telephones and car dashboards or rolled into film to make wrapping and bags.
These nurdles are generally over half a centimetre in size, and are classified as macro-plastics. As anyone will know who has walked along a beach after a storm, items such as bottles and bags drift about in the sea and can cause entanglement and suffocation to marine creatures, birds included. In time, wave action and the sun’s rays can break down these discarded objects into pieces so small that they are barely visible – but they are still there, in the form of tiny plastic particles. Since they are oil based, these particles are virtually non-biodegradable, so sea creatures involuntarily eat them. Research at Millport has recently shown that 83% of prawns (Nephrops norvegicus) sampled have plastics in their digestive system. (Murray and Cowie 2011). Many Arran people may remember the film about St Kilda shown in the Community Theatre, proving by post-mortem that countless gannets die from ingested plastic particles that fill their digestive system and cannot be excreted. Sea birds feed their young on regurgitated material they assume to be edible, but much of it consists of plastic particles. A recent study revealed 400 different pieces in the stomach of a dead albatross chick.
All this is bad enough – but there is much more to the story. Manufacturers of cosmetics of many sorts, particularly skin cleansing products, have recently started making them more ‘scrubby’ by incorporating micro-plastic granules with mildly abrasive edges. You can’t see these particles, for they measure only 100 microns. To put that in perspective, a dust mite measures between 100-300 microns. Because plastics break down into such minuscule pieces, they get into the food chain at its basic level. Simple creatures such as lugworms ingest them and in turn are eaten by fish, which may themselves be eaten by mammals such as seals, dolphins and humans. You quite literally cannot know what is in the fish you are eating – or, indeed, in the products you buy.
75% of the new brands of face cleanser tested in New Zealand (Fendall and Sewell, 2009) contained these invisible plastic beads. As Christmas approaches, cosmetics and beauty products are advertised as making ideal Christmas presents men, women and children of all ages. Previously, they used natural ex-foliating materials such as pumice, oatmeal, or the husks of walnut or apricot kernels, but micro-plastics, introduced fairly recently, probably yield a better profit margin.
Can washing your face with facial cleansers contribute to marine pollution? Well, yes – it can and does. The polyethylene micro-particles in the product dries to form a thin coating on the skin, hair or nails, and when you wash your hands or face, these invisible beads of plastic go into the sewage system. The majority of facial cleansers in question list polyethylene as an ingredient, variously describing it as ‘microbeads’, ‘micro exfoliates’ or ‘microbead formula’. These polyethylene beads or granules are incorporated in many makeup products such as eyeliners, mascara, eye shadows, eyebrow pencils, lipsticks, blushers, face powders and foundations, as well as skin cleansers and skin care products. They were first reported in 2007 but public concern is just beginning to arise about the effects that such chemicals may be having in the seas around us. COAST has been campaigning for 15 years for a Marine Protected Area in Lamlash Bay and an extended MPA around south Arran is under consideration by the Scottish Government – but the cosmetics we buy for Christmas may be adding a damaging element to the balance of the sea’s life.
Sally Campbell spent a lot of time in Glasgow shops, reading the labels on cosmetic products. ‘In searching for ingredients,’ she says, ‘one often has to peel back the label underneath and take a magnifying glass to read what is contained in the concoction.’ She found some unexpected villains, and suspects that she will now be recorded on countless security cameras!
The Body Shop opened in Brighton in 1976 by Anita Roddick with its proud slogan of being ‘environmentally friendly, ethically made, and against animal testing’ uses polyethylene particles in its Vitamin C Microdermal Abrasion product. L’Oréal, which now owns the group, says it will continue The Body Shop policy, but after more than a year, the micro-plastics are still being used.
Boots, perceived as an ethical and environmentally friendly, uses micro-plastics in its No 7 Energising Face Scrub for Men. So get out your magnifying glasses when you are buying cosmetic products, particularly cleansers, for your friends and family this Christmas. There are satisfactory alternatives to these risky products and you will be helping to secure a diverse and healthy marine environment.
References:
David Suzuki Foundation. What you need to know about toxics in your cosmetic products. See website: www.davidsuzuki.org
Fendall, L. S., Sewell, M. A. (2009) Contributing to marine pollution by washing your face: Microplastics in facial cleansers. Mar. Poll. Bull.
Murray, F., Cowie, P. R. (2011) Plastic contamination in the decapod crustacean Nephrops norvegicus (Linnaeus, 1758). Mar. Poll. Bull.
