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.
An exhibition demonstrating the rejuvenation of the indigenous Kuskus Village in Pingtung County’s Mudan Township (牡丹) opened at the Forestry and Nature Conservation Agency’s conservation station in Taipei on Thursday. Agency Director-General Lin Hwa-ching (林華慶) said they have been promoting the use and development of forestry resources to local indigenous residents for eight years to drive regional revitalization. While modern conservation approaches mostly stem from western scientific research, eco-friendly knowledge and skills passed down through generations of indigenous people, who have lived in Taiwan for centuries, could be more suitable for the environment, he said. The agency’s Pingtung branch Director-General Yang Jui-fen (楊瑞芬)
Traffic controls are to be in place in Taipei starting tonight, police said, as rallies supporting recall efforts targeting the Chinese Nationalist Party (KMT) lawmakers as well as a rally organized by the KMT opposing the recall campaigns are to take place tomorrow. Traffic controls are to be in place on City Hall Road starting from 10pm tonight and on Jinan Road Section 1 starting from 8am tomorrow, police said. Recall campaign groups in Taipei and New Taipei advocating for the recall of KMT legislators, along with the Safeguard Taiwan, Anti-Communist Alliance (反共護台聯盟), have previously announced plans for motorcycle parades and public
A tropical depression near the northwestern Philippines is expected to strengthen into Tropical Storm Danas by early tomorrow, becoming the fourth tropical storm of the season, according to the Central Weather Administration (CWA). As of 8am today, the system was located approximately 370 kilometers southwest of Taiwan's southern tip, Cape Eluanbi, and has developed a more organized structure, forecaster Lee Meng-hsuan (李孟軒) said. The storm is currently moving slowly toward the Taiwan Strait in an east-northeast direction and may trigger a sea warning if it reaches tropical storm strength tomorrow morning. The system is expected to shift direction later tomorrow toward the north
‘ON THE RIGHT TRACK’: US analysts praised the ‘less scripted’ drills as strengthening defenses and resilience, as confusion and spontaneity are common in actual warfare This month’s annual Han Kuang military exercises are to feature six types of “gray zone” tactics used by the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) with the aim of weakening their effectiveness, Chief of the General Staff Admiral Mei Chia-shu (梅家樹) told the military yesterday. The 41st Han Kuang drills, scheduled from Wednesday next week through July 18, would simulate a Chinese blockade and invasion, with President William Lai (賴清德) on Tuesday saying that Taiwan is already in a “war without gun smoke.” In a speech broadcast to officers and soldiers yesterday, Mei said that the six types of harassment are: legal warfare,
RSS