yego.me
💡 Stop wasting time. Read Youtube instead of watch. Download Chrome Extension

How to Cleanse Your Beauty Regime of Microplastic | National Geographic


2m read
·Nov 11, 2024

Did you know what that plastics could be hiding in your beauty products? Many body products contain plastics, specifically microplastics. They're plastics that are really tiny; I mean smaller than a grain of rice. Tiny cosmetics, body washes, and toothpastes are some of the biggest culprits for containing microplastics. Often used as exfoliants, they're a cheaper alternative to natural ingredients used for the same purpose.

First, let's talk toothpaste. See all those little blue dots sparkling like stars? Yeah, those could be plastics. Toothpastes that look like this may contain tiny bits of good old polyethylene, the world's most popular form of plastic. Next, we have face and body washes. This stuff makes you feel clean, but how? Previously, it was with tiny pearls of polypropylene, another commonly used plastic material in microbeads. These dots of polypropylene are what exfoliate your skin and open up your pores.

Finally, cosmetics. Blush, concealer, foundation, mascara, lipstick, and eyeliner—almost every type of makeup product can be made with plastic. The usual suspects like polyethylene and polypropylene are used, but so are other plastics like polyethylene terephthalate, which is found in glitter. Yes, glitter is really just shiny pieces of plastic. So every time you brush your teeth, shower, or wash off makeup, you could be sending all those microplastics down the drain and into rivers, lakes, and oceans.

But even before the microplastics are washed down the drain, they can still pose a danger. Inhaling fine particulates like microplastics has been linked to asthma, heart disease, and cancer. Thankfully, measures are being taken to help mitigate the world's microplastics problem. In 2015, the United States passed a law called the Microbead-Free Waters Act. It has already begun to phase out the use of microbeads in toothpastes and rinse-off cosmetics.

Manufacturers are already using natural alternatives to microplastics, and you can also make a difference when purchasing cosmetics, soaps, and toothpastes. Read the packaging. If you see polyethylene, polypropylene, or polyethylene terephthalate, you might want to consider a more environmentally friendly option. While it will be nearly impossible for us to live 100% free of plastics, thinking twice about how we use plastics in our day-to-day lives makes a huge difference for our bodies and our planet.

More Articles

View All
You Don’t Lose People. You Return Them | Stoic Philosophy
In the Star Wars prequels, we see the romance between Jedi Knight Anakin Skywalker and Queen of Naboo Padmé Amidala and how the overly attached Anakin suffers from an extreme fear of losing Padmé. His attachment and fear are so strong that he’s willing to…
The Sharks on Katie Couric's Talk show "Katie"
Today on Katy, can you swim with the sharks? The cast of Shark Tank on how to launch your million-dollar idea. They almost need to have you a hello, right? What these sharks did before making it big time. Mark, you taught disco. Yes, I did. A sharks as …
The Decline in Drug Research | Breakthrough
The interesting thing about bing drugs is that the bands are supposed to reduce recreational use. We’re not sure they do. They stop people perhaps talking about it, but they don’t stop recreation. But what they do do is they stop research. We know that s…
Expedition Amazon – The Trek to Ausangate | National Geographic
[♪ dramatic music playing] [Thomas Peschak] At least you got some horses, eh? [Narrator] 30 horses and llamas, 60 bags of gear, 1,500 pounds of food, and 15 guides and porters. [Spanish] All needed to install a weather station 20,000 feet above sea lev…
Chamath Palihapitiya: The #1 Secret to Becoming Rich
Slow and steady against hard problems. Start by turning off your social apps and giving your brain a break because then you will at least be a little bit more motivated to not be motivated by what everybody else [__] thinks about you. I saw some of the v…
New York Banning Bitcoin Mining? | DC Blockchain summit 2022
[Music] [Music] Kevin, let’s start off with stable coins. So, this has been a huge topic of conversation recently. We saw Luna that was 60 billion dollars at its peak, that turned into a failure. So what can we do with the stablecoin ecosystem to continu…