MICROBEADS: BAN THE BEAD

MAF 340X Issues Analysis Paper

Caroline Salvaneschi

MAF 340X
Professor Bidwell
November 16, 2015

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Caroline Salvaneschi

Ban The Bead! That article caught my attention and inspired me to analyze and present
on the now trending environmental issue of microbeads. When looking for a topic, I needed to
find something that I can personally relate to, so I can enjoy the work and make a memorable
presentation. Im a Marine Affairs major, so I naturally started looking into environmental issues
regarding the ocean. In my search, I came across several timely articles explaining plastic
microbead pollution. I decided to look into this further because I had a recent negative personal
experience with microbeads. I recently was using Crest 3D White Toothpaste until my sister
showed me an article warning people to stop using that type of toothpaste because of the micro
polymers inside. The blue specs in the toothpaste that look they add a nice minty flavor are
actually just flavorless plastic beads. The problem is that these beads can get caught under your
gums, they never biodegrade, and can actually accelerate gum disease. When I continued my
research, I soon learned that this is only the tip of the iceberg when it comes to problems these
tiny little beads can cause. For this analysis, I am going to explain what microbeads are, what
type of products contain them, what impacts they have, what is being done as a reaction to these
impacts, and possible alternatives to microbeads. I will also look at this growing environmental
issue from an environmental/sociological perspective.
What are microbeads? They are defined as microspheres less than five millimeters in its
largest dimension. They are commonly made from polyethylene, polypropylene and polystyrene;
simply, they are tiny plastic beads. They have some commercial and scientific applications but
they are most commonly used in cosmetics. These beads are used by just about every cosmetic
producer and are in almost 1500 different products. In any of the 1500 products, there can be
over 30,000 beads in each container. Microbeads are used in these products because they are
abrasive and give the product a gritty quality, which helps remove dead skin and films on skin

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and teeth. They are cheap to produce and are extremely effective abrasives. These beads are mass
produced and in so many products because its a quick and inexpensive way to get that
exfoliating quality into their products. The most common products you will see micro beads in
are face wash, body wash, toothpaste, lip gross and nail polish. The products that are most
concerning are the ones that we washed down the drain, like body and face wash, because this
causes many serious environmental problems.
Where do these beads go when they wash down the drain? Over fifteen hundred products
currently contain microbeads, sometimes as many as thirty thousand beads, all being wash down
the drain. When washed down the drain they might go through a water treatment plant. The
filtration systems in these water treatment plants are not designed to filter out these types of
micro plastics. After passing through the plant, these beads continue downstream and get
discharged into major bodies of waters like rivers, lakes, and oceans. The microbeads ending up
in these bodies water are not biodegradable; they will be there years and even decades from now.
This is called plastic particle pollution. They are just adding to the tons of plastic already
polluting the world oceans. The higher the concentration of beads, the bigger the impact. This is
why the Great Lakes are having some of the biggest problems. The ocean has a much higher
volume of water and stronger currents, so this helps to dilute the beads impact. However, studies
conducted in Lake Erie have shown that there are up to 1.7 million pieces of micro plastic in
each square mile of the lake. This massive concentration of microbeads in the water has a very
big impact on the species living there.
Other than the fact that the beads are adding to the already major problem of plastics
contaminating our oceans and waterways, these beads have an even greater impact on the
wildlife in the water. The beads affect many fish species because they look like fish food, like

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fish eggs or algae. Fish are ingesting the beads and this is harming their livelihood in many ways.
First, because the particles dont biodegrade, they get stuck in their digestive tracts and stay
there, causing digestive issues. Studies have shown that out if 670 individual fish studied,
approximately 35% had micro plastics in their stomachs. In addition, the microbeads are
poisoning fish and other marine species. Fish and other marine organisms consume these toxiccoated beads and a single microbead can be up to a million times more toxic than the water
around it. Additionally, these smallest particles of plastic are ingested and retained by filter
feeders such as mussels or plankton. For instance, on average, each and every gram of mussel
flesh contains one particle of plastic.
Scientists and even the public are finally catching on to how harmful the microbeads are
to our environment from the standpoint of plastic accumulation and wildlife health. In the last
two years, the movement to stop the use of microbeads has really taken off. In 2013, zero states
in the U.S. had even considered a ban on microbeads, Now 13 states, 9 just this year, have
banned the use of microbead based products. Another 15 states are seriously considering or in the
process of banning microbead products. Canada, Australia, and several countries in Europe are
considering similar bans on these products, and the Netherlands has banned the use all
microbead products starting in 2016. The producers of these products are also getting on board
with the bans, possibly because they are realizing microbeads as a dying market. But either way
they are reducing their microbead production and use. Some of the of the biggest companies that
control the household consumer market, like Johnson and Johnson, Procter and Gamble,
Unilever, and LOreal are vowing to stop the use of microbeads in the next couple years.
Its clear that the microbead problem is being addressed by both industry and
government, but many scientists believe we are not doing enough. The amount of beads going

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into our water systems is still very high. Additionally, the policies and bans arent as effective as
they need to be. Some scientists say there are too many loopholes included in the bans. For
example, they are not clear enough on what plastics can and cannot be used and some companies
are continuing to distribute products using other kinds of plastics.
Other than the exploitation of these technicalities, there has been great progress in the
reduction of microbead use, partly because there are many other environmental friendly
alternatives to microbeads. Good environmental alternatives to microbeads are simply exfoliates
that are non-toxic and biodegrade. Some examples are sugars, powdered seeds, or powdered rice.
St. Ives has come out with a facial scrub, Apricot Cleaner, that uses powdered apricot seeds as
the abrasive, and its been extremely popular. Dermalogica has come out with a product that uses
a rice based exfoliate, and First Aid Beauty Facial Radiance Polish is using powdered Shea
nutshell. These are all very successful products without the use of any micro plastics.
With there being so many viable alternatives to plastic microbeads, it is hard to
understand how they have become such a big problem in the first place, and why the problem
continued for so long before people began to act. This can be explained by the concept of
disembedding, which is the idea that people do not think about where resources come from and
where they end up. This explains why we have allowed about 1.7 million microbeads to pollute
each square mile of our water, even though there are environmental friendly options available.
When people wash their face in the morning and they have a long day ahead of them, they dont
stop to think where the gritty bits in that soap are going when they go down the drain. They dont
take it upon themselves to research the impacts of the beads, the same way we dont think about
where our food waste goes, out of sightout of mind.

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There is something positive to say about how quickly people have gotten on-board with
the movement to stop using microbeads. By looking at the values, beliefs, norms model (VBM),
you can see why the support was nonexistent in 2013 but strong by 2015. My theory is people
never valued microbeads that much; they never really thought about them other the gritty bits in
their soaps. When people started to understand the massive negative impact they were having,
people were quick to change the norm, for microbeads to eventually become an uncommon
household item. Society never valued micro plastics that highly, knowing that there are other
alternatives out there has made it inexpensive, and convenient for society to give the beads up,
and people now understand the massive benefits that eliminating the use of microbeads will have
on our oceans and marine life.
Works Cited
"Plastic Microbeads: Ban the Bead!" The Story of Stuff Project. N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.
<http://storyofstuff.org/plastic-microbeads-ban-the-bead/>.
Adams, Rebecca. "Why Use Microbeads When The Alternatives Are Better?" Huffinton, n.d. Web.
Nov.-Dec. 2015. <http%3A%2F%2Fwww.huffingtonpost.com
%2F2014%2F02%2F20%2Fmicrobeads-exfoliation_n_4815133.html>.
"INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN AGAINST MICROBEADS IN COSMETICS." Beat the Microbead.
N.p., n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015. <http://www.beatthemicrobead.org/en/>.
"Plastic Microbeads: They're Bad. But Together We Can Stop Them." The Story of Stuff Project. N.p.,
n.d. Web. 18 Nov. 2015.