It’s time for industry to clean up its act!

In the coming months, the European Union will make a decision about regulating microplastics added to products. Please sign this petition to convince the European Union to ban all ‘intentionally added microplastics’ to cosmetics!

Dear European Commission,

As the leading body of governance in tackling the issue of single-use plastic, we urge you to consider a full ban on microplastic ingredients used in personal care products and cosmetics.

Every time we shower or wash our hands or faces, an alarming number of microplastics are released into the environment. A recent test done on an anti-wrinkle cream from a popular brand, OLAZ, shows that a single 50ml jar contains up to 1.5 million particles of plastic. To put this into perspective, every time somebody uses this cream an estimated 90,000 plastic particles will end up on the skin and subsequently washed down the drain and into our ocean.

Intentionally-added microplastics are widely used in shampoos, lotions, and make-up products and as such an obscene amount of plastic is released into the environment every day – and often with little or no consumer awareness about the impact of the products being used.

This plastic epidemic is affecting all walks of life. There are now numerous studies that show that these small particles can travel up the food chain, meaning that from plankton to humans, everyone is consuming these tiny plastic particles. There is new evidence to show that the chemicals in plastic and plastic particles may cause cancer, heart disease, Alzheimer’s, dementia, Parkinson’s, arthritis, impotency and might even harm the development of babies in the womb. We are worried that the implications could be much more severe than we can process right now, as new research continues to shine a light on the unexpected dangers of microplastics to the health of our world, but also to the health of human beings.

We ask the European Union to be the pioneer in tackling the issue of ‘intentionally-added microplastics’ and lead this important movement by banning all micro- and nanoplastics in cosmetics & personal care products. As a leading governance body in the world you have the power to stop this growing threat to the health of our planet and ourselves.

We hope that you will do the right thing.

This petition is initiated by the BEAT THE MICROBEAD COALITION consisting 100 NGOs from around the world, powered by Plastic Soup Foundation.