Millions of tonnes of plastic trash enters our oceans every year, including tiny plastic microbeads used in personal care products. Many leading brands of personal care products use microbeads as exfoliating and cleansing ingredients. They are designed to be washed down the drain where they can pass through wastewater and sewage filtration systems and ultimately be released to sea. However, these beads are not fully degradable and are easily ingested by marine life like plankton, clams and shrimp. As these organisms are at the bottom of the food chain, it is likely that the seafood we eat has ingested these potentially toxic microbeads.

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