An examination of skin exfoliation products by an environmentalist group found that 108 out of 308 personal care products contain plastic microbeads, which the group said could absorb toxic substances and enter the food chain, threatening human health.
Taiwan Watch Institute has been sampling facial foams, shower gels, toothpastes and other personal care products since August, institute secretary-general Herlin Hsieh (謝和霖) said yesterday, adding that they have found out that about one-third of the products contained microbeads — plastic particles smaller than 1mm in diameter — that are widely used as exfoliating agents, and that a bottle of facial foam could contain up to 1 million microbeads.
Up to 70 percent of products that claim to have a scrubbing or peeling function contain plastic microbeads, Hsieh said.
“Microbeads absorb toxic substances around them, such as heavy metals and pesticides, making it like a pill full of highly concentrated toxins. Microbeads could enter the food chain and affect human health, as marine organisms could consume microbeads after the material, which water purification plants could not filter, enters the ocean,” he said.
A Belgian study published last year estimated that the annual dietary exposure for European shellfish consumers can amount to 11,000 microbeads per year, calculated by the concentration of microbeads in two species of commercially grown bivalves, institute researcher Sun Wei-tzu (孫偉孜) said, adding that the microbeads could pose greater health risks than large plastic waste due to the effect of biomagnification.
Ninety-five percent of microbeads are made of polyethylene (PE), the most common plastic, primarily used in plastic bags, films and containers, in addition to polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polymethyl methacrylate and nylon, Sun said, adding that PE has a greater capacity to absorb pollutants than other plastics.
Due to their low cost, microbeads have been used to replace sea salt, nut shells and other natural materials as exfoliating agents, he said.
Eight US states, including Illinois and California, have banned the use of microbeads, and the Canadian government is moving to prohibit the substance, he said.
He called on the government to ban microbeads, while calling on consumers to avoid using personal care products containing PE, adding that consumers can use smartphone applications to scan a product to see whether it contains microbeads.
The Environmental Protection Administration said that there is no existing measure to regulate microbeads in terms of their size, concentration or materials used in manufacturing, and the agency needs to assess the environmental impact of microbeads before determining whether to ban the material, while there is no fixed timetable for establishing relevant measures or potentially imposing a ban.
Trips for more than 100,000 international and domestic air travelers could be disrupted as China launches a military exercise around Taiwan today, Taiwan’s Civil Aviation Administration (CAA) said yesterday. The exercise could affect nearly 900 flights scheduled to enter the Taipei Flight Information Region (FIR) during the exercise window, it added. A notice issued by the Chinese Civil Aviation Administration showed there would be seven temporary zones around the Taiwan Strait which would be used for live-fire exercises, lasting from 8am to 6pm today. All aircraft are prohibited from entering during exercise, it says. Taipei FIR has 14 international air routes and
Taiwan lacks effective and cost-efficient armaments to intercept rockets, making the planned “T-Dome” interception system necessary, two experts said on Tuesday. The concerns were raised after China’s military fired two waves of rockets during live-fire drills around Taiwan on Tuesday, part of two-day exercises code-named “Justice Mission 2025.” The first wave involved 17 rockets launched at 9am from Pingtan in China’s Fujian Province, according to Lieutenant General Hsieh Jih-sheng (謝日升) of the Office of the Deputy Chief of the General Staff for Intelligence at the Ministry of National Defense. Those rockets landed 70 nautical miles (129.6km) northeast of Keelung without flying over Taiwan,
City buses in Taipei and New Taipei City, as well as the Taipei MRT, would on Saturday begin accepting QR code payments from five electronic payment providers, the Taipei Department of Transportation said yesterday. The new option would allow passengers to use the “transportation QR code” feature from EasyWallet, iPass Money, iCash Pay, Jkopay or PXPay Plus. Passengers should open their preferred electronic payment app, select the “transportation code” — not the regular payment code — unlock it, and scan the code at ticket readers or gates, General Planning Division Director-General Liu Kuo-chu (劉國著) said. People should move through the
The Ministry of National Defense (MND) today released images of the military tracking China’s People's Liberation Army (PLA) movements during the latest round of Chinese drills around Taiwan. The PLA began "Justice Mission 2025" drills today, carrying out live-fire drills, simulated strikes on land and maritime targets, and exercises to blockade the nation's main ports. The exercises are to continue tomorrow, with the PLA announcing sea and air space restrictions for five zones around Taiwan for 10 hours starting from 8:30am. The ministry today released images showing a Chinese J-16 fighter jet tracked by a F-16V Block 20 jet and the
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