(September 17, 2015) An
outright ban on the common use of plastic “microbeads” from products that enter
wastewater is the best way to protect water quality, wildlife, and resources
used by people, a group of conservation scientists suggest in a new analysis.
These microbeads are one part of the microplastic problem in
oceans, freshwater lakes and rivers, but are a special concern because in many
products they are literally designed to be flushed down the drain. And even at
conservative estimates, the collective total of microbeads being produced today
is enormous.
In an article just published
in the journal Environmental Science and Technology, scientists from seven
institutions say that nontoxic and biodegradable alternatives exist for
microbeads, which are used in hundreds of products as abrasive scrubbers,
ranging from face washes to toothpaste. Around the size of a grain of sand,
they can provide a gritty texture to products where that is needed.
“We’re facing a plastic crisis and don’t even know it,” said
Stephanie Green, the David H. Smith Conservation Research Fellow in the College
of Science at Oregon State University, and co-author of this report.
“Part of this problem can now start with brushing your teeth
in the morning,” she said. “Contaminants like these microbeads are not
something our wastewater treatment plants were built to handle, and the overall
amount of contamination is huge. The microbeads are very durable.”