The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) has embarked on a drive against plastic in cosmetics, expressing concern over their potential for polluting the environment.
In a report 'Plastic in Cosmetics: Are We Polluting the Environment Through Our Personal Care?', the UNEP has drawn a connection between cosmetics and plastic pollution in the oceans.
The UN agency has said that the tiny plastic beads present in the shower gel, for example, contain microplastics or microbeads that could go down the drain and lead to plastic pollution in the oceans.
The agency has come up with an app 'Beat the Microbead' in seven languages to help consumers check whether a product has such ingredients by scanning the barcodes.
The study said microparticles of plastic, or microplastics are being used as ingredients in personal care products and cosmetics in place of their natural equivalent.
A pack of exfoliating shower gel can have as much microplastic as utilized in the plastic packaging in which it is sold, contributing to over 4,300 tons of microplastic beads in 2012 in the European Union.
"Microbeads and other plastic ingredients are present in products ranging from toothpaste and shower gel to eye shadows and nail polish.
"Their proportions vary in different products, from less than 1 per cent to more than 90% of the content. In a typical shower gel analyzed in laboratory, there was roughly as much plastic material in the gel itself as in its packaging," the report added.
Alarmed by the fact that these plastics could take centuries to degrade completely, the UN agency said such particles, being too small in size, could not be even collected for recycling.
Calling on nations to crack down on the manufacture and sale of products containing microbeads, it said Illinois in the US has set an example by being the first to clamp down legal provisions.
Image: Microplastics are found in personal care products and cosmetics, UNEP report says. Photo: courtesy of UNEP.
