London - Walk into any supermarket or chemist and the beauty aisles are full of them - the chances are you even have a few in your bathroom cabinet.
From body scrubs to smoothing face washes and even brightening toothpaste, plastic microbeads - those tiny balls in exfoliating products, invaluable for their abrasive yet gentle action - have proved such a huge phenomenon in recent years that they can be found in many of our daily beauty products.
But though these hard-working little granules of plastic may seem innocuous, scientists are concerned about their effect on the environment.
In fact, after a campaign by marine conservationists, Cosmetics Europe - which represents more than 4 000 companies - recently recommended its members stop using microbeads by 2020.
So why are these tiny plastic beads, measuring less than 5mm, causing such a problem?
“Microbeads are too small to be filtered out during sewage treatment and invariably flow out to sea, becoming a direct source of pollution,” says Dilyana Mihaylova of conservation organisation Fauna & Flora International.
“This is a problem because they don’t biodegrade and can pose a serious threat to animals, which can easily mistake them for food.”
Plastic in our seas and waterways is obviously not a good thing but scientists worry microbeads could present a particular problem.
Stiv Wilson, director of campaigns for pressure group The Story Of Stuff Project, explains: “The smaller something is, the more animals can eat it. These are tiny and are being released into the water table in their trillions.”
Our lakes, rivers, coral reefs and sea beds are becoming home to vast quantities of microbeads that can be eaten by fish, seabirds and other mammals.
“Because plastic is made from oil, it absorbs any toxic pollution in the water,” says Wilson. “Some tests have shown microbeads to be up to a million times more toxic than the surrounding water. These toxic pollutants can alter the sex of a creature, from male to female. We’ve also seen fish with feeding apparatus stuck full of plastic so they can’t absorb nutrients. And corals are getting clogged.
“We are concerned how these toxins travel up the food chain. One big fish will eat 10 000 little fish, and then a human eats the big fish. There’s potential for lots of toxins to be contained within that.”
A report by the Joint Group of Experts on the Scientific Aspects of Marine Environmental Protection states that people who eat a lot of shellfish or seafood could be unwittingly consuming more than 10 000 microbeads every year.
While the effects on our health are unknown, one piece of research has suggested that chemicals from microplastics could work their way into the tissues of the human body.
In other words, you may end up digesting - and storing - the toxic grains you use to wash your face.
Perhaps it’s little wonder that environmental campaigners are so keen to ban microbeads. Some brands are ahead of the game. Tesco has promised to remove microbeads from its own-brand range by 2017, and Marks & Spencer plans to do so by next year.
Sainsbury’s, Waitrose and Co-op say they do not sell any own-brand products containing microbeads. And companies that do are planning on getting rid of them as soon as possible.
L’Occitane says it tries to use crushed almond shells or apricot kernel powder as alternatives to plastics and has committed to removing the few products that do contain them.
Johnson & Johnson says it, too, is phasing out microbeads and aims to complete the process by the end of 2017.
Elizabeth Arden says it is also taking measures to remove microbeads from its beauty products.
If you’re worried about your scrub, take a look at the ingredients - if polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate, polytetrafluoroethylene or nylon appear in the top ingredients, it suggests there are microbeads in there. Another form of polyethylene is also used as a stabiliser, binding agent, thickener, and film-forming agent in moisturisers, but this will appear lower down in the ingredients list.
And if you don’t fancy reading the small print, use the Good Scrub Guide published by Fauna & Flora International.
Or download the Beat The Microbead app which allows you to scan the barcodes of products to check for the presence of microplastics while shopping.
Daily Mail