Our use of cosmetics products results in tonnes of microplastics being washed into the sea each year. Read on to find out how you contribute to this, despite living in Switzerland, and what you can do to combat it.
What are microplastics and why are they in our cosmetics?
As a massive Disney fan, I see the world through rose-tinted glasses. I worship series from the 90s and consider mermaids a religion. When I’m not dancing in glitter rain, I’m either hanging out at pyjama parties or sitting at my make-up table. P.S. I love you, bacon, garlic and onions.
It's not just the packaging of your cosmetics products that's damaging the environment. It's also what's often in the product itself: microplastics. These are small particles of plastic that travel through sewage systems and end up in various bodies of water, where animals in particular can suffer. According to the WWF, record amounts have been recorded in the Mediterranean: up to 1.25 million fragments of plastic per square kilometre were floating around in 2018. Just thinking about that changed my mindset. Mainly because I'm part of the problem and I hadn't thought until recently about whether my beauty essentials are in fact making the world an uglier place.
Microplastics are plastic particles less than five millimetres in size. They're often not visible to the naked eye, which is why many consumers are unaware of their presence in their beauty products. And why is there plastic in shampoo, creams and so on in the first place? Adding these particles gives cosmetics products desirable properties. They act as abrasive material in all kinds of toothpastes and scrubs. They are in your shampoo to ensure that your hair doesn't knot so easily. And they make creams smoother. These effects can be achieved with other ingredients, but plastic is cheap to make and doesn't trigger any allergies.
These Bobbi Brown exfoliating grains contain microplastics.
However, low production costs and high skin compatibility come at a cost – and a high one at that. The plastic that ends up in our sewage systems is incredibly hard to filter out in many countries without adequate filtration systems. Even here in Switzerland, we are far from able to intercept everything that we flush away. This results in small amounts of microplastics in Swiss waters. On behalf of the Federal Office for the Environment, the Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (in German) found an average of 0.1 microplastic particle per square meter of water surface in 2013. Compared to the concentration in the Mediterranean, this is of course very low.
But even though the ocean isn't exactly just around the corner from us, we still contribute to its pollution as a land-locked country via the river Rhône, which flows through France and into the Mediterranean. The Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne estimates that ten kilogrammes of microplastics per day flow into the ocean from Switzerland. Microscopic plastic particles then get into the stomachs and airways of marine life and can suffocate them. Through our consumption of fish and other sea creatures, that plastic then ends up in our bodies, as it can never totally break down naturally.
And the problem goes even further. Corina Gyssler, spokesperson for WWF Switzerland, explained: «Plastic often contains additives that give the product particular properties, but cause damage to animals and humans. Bisphenol A, phthalates and brominated flame retardants can affect sexual development, damage genetic material and even be carcinogenic. Pesticides and other toxins that dissolve into the ocean also attach themselves to the smallest of plastic particles. All of these toxins penetrate the fatty tissue of marine organisms, ending up in the food chain.»
Banning these small particles of plastic from your bathroom cabinet isn't as easy as you'd think, as companies are bringing more and more new types of microplastics onto the market. According to Greenpeace (in German), you can check products for the following ingredients before making a purchase to avoid the most commonly used plastics in cosmetics:
Acrylates copolymer (AC)
Acrylate crosspolymer (ACS)
Dimethiconol
Methicone
Polyamide (PA, nylon)
Polyacrylate (PA)
Polymethylmethacrylate (PMMA)
Polyquaternium (PQ)
Polyethylene (PE)
Polyethylene glycol (PEG)
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
Polypropylene (PP)
Propylene glycol (PPG)
Polystyrene (PS)
Polyurethane (PUR)
Siloxane
Silsesquioxane
The CodeCheck app lets you easily analyse ingredients
I even checked my favourite hair mask before buying it.
Apps such as «CodeCheck» and «Beat the Microbead» provide more support; all you have to do is scan in your product's barcode. They will then show you whether there are any microplastics in it. Speaking from experience, I would recommend CodeCheck because it's easier to use and you're more likely to find the product you're looking for. If you really want to be sure, stick with natural cosmetics, which are guaranteed to be microplastics-free.
Do you check whether a product contains microplastics before you buy it?
This is the first time I hear about microplastics.
34%
I don't care what's in my products, as long as they do what they promise.
