Effects Of Microbeads

What Comes Around Goes Around How would you like to wash your face with plastics? According to a recent research by Stiv Wilson from Five Gyres.org, Lake Erie had contained up to six hundred thousand of microbeads per square kilometer that ended up draining into the oceans. Microbeads are tiny plastic beads that are made of Polythylene and Polypropylene and applied as exfoliants in products, such as facial scrubs, shower gels and toothpastes. However, what people do not know is that the cosmetics that they use everyday contains microbeads would get washed straight to the oceans and damage the ecosystem. Microbeads do not just contaminate the environment and break food chain system but also harm human health. Therefore, people should stop using

On the website “Beverly Hills La Dentist,” Dr. Stanley states,“The buildup of microbeads embedded in patients’ gums has been increasingly apparent. This is very concerning because any foreign objects lodged in the gumline could lead to gingival inflammation and lead to infection, gingivitis, or periodontal disease.” In other words, the toothpaste that we use every day contains microbeads which might get stuck under the gum and cause inflammation of the gums. Toothpaste was designed to help us clean our teeth. Yet, now toothpastes are making our teeth sick. In addition, according to ABC 7 News, Proctor & Gamble claims that “Polyethylene serves as an inactive ingredient used to provide color in toothpastes like Crest 3D.” The toothpaste companies added microbeads into their products not because microbeads were effective ingredients for consumers to clean their teeth, but they wanted to make their products more appealing to the consumers. Thus, microbeads should be removed from toothpaste since it has a potential risk in contracting serious

In the video “The Journal: Rachel Carson’s Legacy,” Rachel Carson says “Man’s attitude toward nature is today critically important simply because we have acquired a fateful power to alter and destroy nature.” Humans have the ability to change and damage the nature so we should pay attention on what we are doing and how does it affect our environment. Also, it is important that we are responsible for the side effect of our own creation and fix the problem when it occurred. In her article “Plastics in Our Ocean,” Kimberly Amaral suggests us to avoid using products that contains microbeads, inform others about this crisis and find an alternative material to replace microbeads. When purchasing an item, make sure to check the label that does not contain microbeads and try not to use any microbeaded products. There are still a lot of people using microbeaded products without knowing anything about microbeads. Educate and inform the others about microbeads and how does it affect our ecosystem can effectively prevent people from using mircobeads. Another good solution to solve this problem would be finding a new material to replace microbeads. For an example, sea salts are often used as exfoliation in skin care products and it could also be a practical replacement for microbeads. (Britta Aragon) It would not be too late if we act now, we can still work together and figure out a way to fix the