We can wind a lot of make-up wipes around it, apply thick layers of greenwashing on top, conceal things with a lot of low make-up, but the fact remains that many (large) companies in the cosmetics sector deliberately continue to add rubbish to cosmetics, shampoos and cosmetics. skin care products.
What is microplastics?
In addition to potentially endocrine-disrupting and hazardous substances, plastic microparticles are deliberately added to cosmetic products. Microplastics are mini-particles of (liquid) plastics. Fortunately, the larger particles (which were previously used in scrubs, for example) were already banned in 2013, but today more than 500 types* of microplastics are still deliberately added to cosmetics and other products.
Microplastics in cosmetics Microplastics have three purposes:
1. Improving the spreadability of a product
2. Making products waterproof
3. Serve as a filler of a product, to make it slightly thicker
In addition, it is an easy ingredient that costs little. The large multinationals often use the counter argument 'that it is not that harmful' and that the microplastics they use are 'below the standard'. Nevertheless, the choice is up to them whether they want to maximize their profit or market products without microplastics and thus help people and nature.
Why is microplastic a problem?
Microplastics are forever plastics and not degradable. This is a big problem, because they end up in the water through your shower drain. And because they are too small to be filtered out of the water, they end up in our entire ecosystem. In March 2022, a new study by the Free University of Amsterdam was also published, which showed that these plastics can also end up in human blood.
*Image from beatthemicrobead.org
Cosmetics without microplastics
Can the cosmetics industry just use microplastics? By constantly developing new forms of microplastics - increasingly smaller and more liquid - it is still possible to add microplastics to cosmetic products. The law currently only prohibits those old/larger particles, but manufacturers have now been smart enough to make all kinds of new shapes that are not covered by this legislation.
Because manufacturers use this limited definition of microplastics, some still add 'no microplastics' to their products. It is imperative that we create a clear definition of microplastics, so that manufacturers can no longer hide behind these empty words.
Beat the Micro Bead app
As a consumer, to be able to find out whether your products contain microplastics, you now have to be a chemist. Those ingredients can't even be pronounced anymore. That is why we are so happy with the Beat The Microbead app from the Plastic Soup Foundation. With a photo you can immediately see whether your favorite shampoo, cream or toothpaste contains microplastics. And not just microplastics that are not allowed by law, but also all those other 500 species that are still allowed by law, but are really not good for nature and people.
The Plastic Soup Foundation does pioneering work (which we support every year!) to exclude microplastics from cosmetics. For example, they already made the above app, but they also do research. For example, they announced in the following study in which, among other things, 10 well-known brands were examined down to the smallest microplastics. Spoiler: almost 90% of these brands contain microplastics in their products.
Petition against microplastics
The European Union is currently preparing a bill to ban all types of microplastics in cosmetics. Logical right? But unfortunately this does not seem to be going in the right direction and the lobby of major players from the cosmetics and oil industry is very strong. It seems that there will soon be all kinds of exceptions for microplastics that are allowed again according to the law. So help us and sign the petition here.
Care products without microplastics
At Food for Skin we only make 100% natural skin care products, without microplastics of course! View the range of products in our shop , or start with a test set to try it out.
