Updated: 30/04/2021 - 10:00
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Last week New Zealand unveiled a raft of policies aimed at creating a ‘smoke-free generation’ and phasing tobacco products out of the country.
Among ideas expected to be implemented are an increase in the legal smoking age, a potential ban on sale of tobacco products to anyone born after 2004, minimum pricing and vendor restrictions.
The announcement was welcomed by campaigners and civil groups for its contribution to reaching New Zealand’s ambition to be smoke free by 2025.
But as well as being extremely bad for personal health, cigarettes also impact the health of the planet.
Silica is the Most Eco-Friendly Substitute for Plastic Microbeads Used in Cosmetics
Written by AZoMDec 15 2020
A new study quantifies the environmental costs of alternative materials following bans on plastic microbeads used in wash-off cosmetics.
Silica, applied here as mud in the Blue Lagoon in Iceland, was the most environmentally friendly alternative. Image Credit: Imperial College London.
Microbeads are added to cosmetic and personal care products such as toothpaste, industrial hand cleaners and body scrubs often to enhance qualities like abrasiveness.
Microbeads are small, artificial plastic pellets, often with a diameter of less than 0.5 mm (or 500 μm). In several products, they are designed to be washed off, thus passing through wastewater treatment plants and ending up in marine ecosystems. They can accumulate underwater, eventually being ingested by marine organisms, causing harm to them.
Study: Silica offers the best environmental alternative to plastic microbeads
Following bans on plastic microbeads in wash-off cosmetics, a new study weighs up the environmental costs of alternatives.
Microbeads have been included in personal care and cosmetic products ranging from toothpaste and sunscreen to body scrubs and industrial hand cleaners, usually to improve qualities like abrasiveness.
Microbeads are small, manufactured plastic pellets, typically measuring less than 0.5 millimetres (500 micrometres) in diameter.
In many products, they are designed to be washed off, where they pass through wastewater treatments plants and end up in marine ecosystems. Here, they can accumulate and be ingested by and cause harm to marine organisms.
A ban on products containing microbeads came into force in the UK in 2018
Following bans on plastic microbeads in wash-off cosmetics, a new study weighs up the environmental costs of alternatives.
Microbeads have been included in personal care and cosmetic products ranging from toothpastes and sunscreen to body scrubs and industrial hand cleaners, usually to improve qualities like abrasiveness.
Not every apparently ‘natural’ alternative is desirable, so care is needed in selecting new cosmetic formulations. Professor Nick Voulvoulis
Microbeads are small, manufactured plastic pellets, typically measuring less than 0.5 millimetres (500 micrometres) in diameter. In many products they are designed to be washed off, where they pass through wastewater treatments plants and end up in marine ecosystems. Here, they can accumulate and be ingested by and cause harm to marine organisms.