Do you know where the microplastics are?
Microplastics are small and solid manufactured plastic particles; their size is less than 5mm and they don’t degrade or dissolve in water.
Microplastics are intentionally added as ingredient in a variety of products:
Rinse-off (facial soaps, body washes or toothpaste), Leave-on (suncare, skin care and make up) and Cleaning products.
Before investigate the ingredients, let’s open a parenthesis on the definitions of Cosmetics Products:
Rinse-off products are personal care products that are used for cleaning skin, hair (and teeth as well!) but they are washed off or rinsed off with water and therefore do not leave any residue on your body. On the other hand, Leave-on products refers to the set of cosmetic products intended to stay in prolonged contact with the skin, the hair or the mucous membranes. The variety of this category is large and includes, as example: Skin care or Make-up products as mascara, foundation, eye shadow and lipstick.
But do you really know what to look for to flush them out?
The composition of microplastics includes often:
Polyethylene terephthalate, (PET) Polymethlyl methacrylate (PMMA), Polyamide (Nylon), (PET) Polyethylene (PE), Polypropylene (PP)
Let’s play a game, how many of them are present in your personal care daily – routine?