Microbeads in Face Wash Are Filling the Oceans with Plastic

Microbeads are tiny plastic particles less than one millimeter in diameter that were added to personal care products like face wash, toothpaste, and body scrubs as exfoliants. These microscopic plastic spheres pass right through water treatment systems and end up in rivers, lakes, and oceans. A single shower using a microbead product can release 100,000 plastic particles into the environment. Fish and other marine animals mistake them for food, and the plastic works its way up the food chain, eventually reaching human plates. The United States banned microbeads in 2015, but they persist in the environment and are still used in some countries.