A Microbead Murder Mystery: Discovering the Danger in Products I Use Every Day
Brookline, MA
2016, Senior, Creative Writing
“Which one should I get, mom?” I say, slightly baffled by my number of options. As I walk down aisle 6 at CVS®, over twenty types of exfoliators overwhelm me, all with flashy labels telling me why none other than theirs will do the trick.
“Expert exfoliator with jojoba microbeads” “Deep action exfoliating scrub with a cool refreshing tingle” “Nourishing exfoliator with grapefruit for exfoliating bliss,” read various labels.
“I recommend this one,” my mother replies, holding up a refreshing blue bottle, the one advertising a ‘cool tingle,’ “I use it and I love the way it makes my skin feel. Plus it’s not too rough so I can use it every day without it irritating my skin.”
Why not? This product seems just as worthy as any other so I grab it and head to the cashier without a second thought.
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The product I chose that day is called the Clean & Clear® Deep Action Exfoliating Scrub. Like many products of its kind, this exfoliator contains thousands of microbeads. Specifically, one tube of this scrub can contain 300,000 of them. An estimated 808 trillion microbeads enter wastewater treatment plants daily and most of them eventually enter water systems, either directly or through runoff. Microbeads, a source of plastic pollution, are defined as any intentionally added, nonbiodegradable, solid plastic particle measured less than five millimeters in size and that is used to exfoliate or cleanse in a rinseff product. They are a large concern because they attract harmful organic pollutants and then fish consume them and these chemicals are transferred to their tissues. Microbeads make up only a small percentage of plastic pollution. However, they are unique in that their release as water pollutants is an inevitable part of their life cycle and is anticipated by their manufacturers. Furthermore, microbeads are nonessential; there are many natural materials that possess the same abilities. For these reasons, in 2015, Obama signed an act of Congress creating a federal microbead ban. The MicrobeadFree Waters Act of 2015 prohibits the manufacturing, sale or distribution of rinseoff cosmetics containing plastic microbeads. The act will finally go into effect in 2017. In the act, microbeads are defined as “any solid plastic particle that is less than five millimeters in size and is intended to be used to exfoliate or cleanse the human body” (U.S. Congress). While this act is an enormous step in the right direction, it does not go far enough. Exfoliators like Clean & Clear® are a large source of microbeads, but many other products contain them as well, such as ones that are not intended for exfoliation or cleansing and thus would not be banned by this act. Examples of these are deodorants, wrinkle creams, moisturizers, shaving creams, sunscreen lotions, lipsticks, and eye shadows. In these products, microbeads can fulfill varying purposes such as film formation, viscosity regulation, skin conditioning, and emulsion stabilizing. Unfortunately, the microbeads found in these products are also harmful and they will continue to enter water bodies and wreak havoc until more is done.
Before my flashy facial scrub could appear on the shelf, Johnson & Johnson® made many decisions regarding the construction of the product. Since microbeads aresmooth around the edges, they can be used every day, as my mother mentioned. For her, this seemed to be a positive aspect of microbeads. This serves as a huge benefit to companies who produce microbeads because this causes the product to be used up more quickly, forcing consumers to buy more and ultimately expelling more plastic microbeads into wastewater treatment systems. Naturalexfoliants, on the other hand, are not perfectly round, so they tend to be more abrasive and should only be used once a week. As a result, they need to be purchased less frequently, bringing in less money for the company. Plastic is also cheaper for companies to produce than natural exfoliants. These incentives for companies to push microbeads are an enormous problem since companies are able to profit more when the environment is suffering.
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When I get home after purchasing the scrub, I try it out. As I massage the tiny round beads over my face, they slough off dead skin cells, leaving my skin feeling fresh and renewed. I look in the mirror and feel like my skin is glowing. The minuscule blue beads wash down the sink, unnoticed.
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Although I could no longer see the beads after they left my sink, their lives were far from over. In fact, since plastic decomposes extremely slowly, having a halflife longer than any other persistent organic pollutant, scientists assume that all plastic that has ever been released into the environment still exists today. After going down the sink, beads head to a wastewater treatment plant. They escape the steps of wastewater treatment plants because they are so tiny, some invisible to the naked eye. More than half of microbeads sink in water and these can enter the sewage sludge of the plant. In Europe, over ⅓ of sewage sludge is applied to agricultural fields as fertilizer biosolids. The tiny round beads then enter fertilizer runoff and eventually end up in bodies of water. Another way microbeads can escape proper disposal is during heavy rains when many wastewater treatment facilities simply allow untreated water to overflow into surrounding water bodies, along with microbeads and any other debris in the water. More importantly, even when the treatment plant does process water containing microbeads, many are not filtered out because of their miniscule size and buoyancy. They are deposited into bodies of water with ‘treated’ water.
So what’s wrong with having all of these microbeads in our water bodies? The source of one problem with these plastic microbeads is the harmful hydrophobic pollutants that are attracted to them. Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs), dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) are a few chemicals that cause this reaction. Microbeads absorb these chemicals and can become one million times more toxic than the water surrounding them. The real problem begins when many organisms ingest these beads. Fish can mistake large microbeads for plankton and zooplankton can mistake microscopic microbeads for phytoplankton. Molluscs and crustaceans in particular have shown to be particularly sensitive to these chemicals. Since these creatures are an important food item for many species, plastics ingested bythese invertebrates then have the potential to transfer toxic substances up the food chain through biomagnification. As the chemical biomagnifies, it becomes increasingly potent. For example, if a plankter consumes a microbead, then a small fish consumes many plankton, and then a larger fish consumes many smaller fish, the chemical will become increasingly potent in larger organisms, becoming progressively more harmful.
A second health risk for these organisms who consume microbeads is the bead itself. The fine particulates can then translocate to the bloodstream and organs. They can potentially build up or cause infection, particularly in small organisms like small fish and plankton. A devastating problem is when the ingestion of plastic leads to false satiation and subsequently starvation. Plastic ingestion may also indirectly lead to death of an animal through nutrient dilution, since, of course, there are no nutrients or calories found in plastic microbeads. Typical consequences of this include decreased growth rates, longer developmental periods at sizes most vulnerable to predation, depleted energy reserves, and lower reproductive output and survivorship of animals. This problem, too, can increasingly affect organisms up the food chain as they consume the microbeads in the stomachs of all organisms they consume. Mary Moser and David Lee conducted a study of 1033 birds belonging to 38 different species from 1975 to 1989. They found that 21 of the 38 species contained plastic particles or 55 percent. Procellariiform birds (seabirds) contained the most plastic particles, suggesting that plastic particles biomagnify up the food chain due to their diet of fish. Plastic ingestion in procellariiform birds also increased over the time period, indicating an increase in particle availability to fish due to continued use of microbeads, as they do not biodegrade. These plastic particles have the potential to cause any of the mentioned health risks, which could be deadly or simply cause these birds to become toxic to predators.
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After learning about the harm these microbeads cause, I am astonished. If so many products advertise microbeads proudly, how are they so harmful? I immediately throw my Clean & Clear® into the trash, refusing to send microbeads down the drain ever again.
“Mom, did you know that there are 300,000 plastic microbeads in that facial scrub I bought? They absorb tons of toxins and then fish mistake them for plankton and are subjected to these toxins! They build up in the food chain harming organisms more and more as they transfer,” I tell my mom in a tizzy.
“Wow, I’m shocked,” she replies. “I’ve been using that for years; it’s terrifying to think of the number of microbeads I have personally contributed to the environment. What can anyone do to help with this?”
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There are several ways that the number of microbeads entering ecosystems can be reduced. The best way to do this is to go directly to the source and stop the companies’ formation of microbeads. The current U.S. ban is an enormous step forward.However, many other countries, such as China put thousands of microbeads into water bodies every day. If other countries could implement bans like ours, more could be one. Even until our ban goes into effect, however, it is important to reduce microbeaduse. And after the ban, consumers will need microbead alternatives. One alternative for consumers is biopolyesters, a type of small, biodegradable bead that is produced by soildwelling bacteria. A wash called Celluloscrub is made using wood pulp, which has very similar behavior to scrubs using microbeads but also biodegrades. Individual consumers can take the issue into their own hands by buying these natural scrubs. There is an app created by the Plastic Soup Foundation where consumers can scan products to find out if they contain microbeads. After 2017, this app will be able to be used to help consumersavoid microbeads in products like makeup and lotions that have not been banned. Another way to figure this out is by simply looking at the ingredients of the product. If it contains polyethylene, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polymethylmethacrylate, or nylon, it contains plastic.
Many people are also seeking ways to remove the microbeads already in the ocean, as it seems like an obvious solution. The way microbeads are removed from our drinking water is by fabric filtration. However, this filtration in the ocean would also simultaneously remove planktons and other flora and fauna from the food chain which may disrupt the entire marine ecosystem just as much as the microbeads.
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After discarding my microbead-filled scrub, I go to CVS® to make a better decision. I choose the Yes To® product using grapefruit to exfoliate instead. After going home, I find that this scrub delivers the same clean feeling afterwards, despite the lack of plastic microbeads. Although my mom and I simply choosing to stop purchasing products containing microbeads may not make the biggest difference longterm, our decisions will take hundreds of thousands of microbeads out of our oceans and potentially save many organisms from reaching a very grim end.
Reflection
Reflection
I was inspired to write about microbeads after learning about the threat they pose, as I do in the true story that is woven throughout my essay. It shocked me that something I had never given much thought could be so harmful behind the scenes. Especially since many products proudly advertise them, I couldn’t imagine that they were a bad thing. Plus, what’s the harm in a tiny bead? I first heard about the harm they pose from my sister, and through this project learned even more. I was also inspired when I began to look into the text of the new microbead ban that seems to solve the problem. However, after looking into it, I saw a hole. Only cleansers containing microbeads will be banned. Another problem is that these companies can simply send their factories overseas and distribute their products there, putting microbeads into the water just the same, albeit fewer of them. My main goal is simply to inform more people about the issue because I believe that each person’s consumption and choices count just as every vegetarian makes a difference and even how every vote counts in an election. Even if my essay encourages one person to stop buying microbead exfoliators before the ban or to avoid makeup and lotions with them after, I will consider it a success.