Slashdot Mirror
Scientists Call For Ban On Glitter, Say It's a Global Hazard That Pollutes Oceans (cnet.com)
An anonymous reader quotes a report from CNET: Whether you love to add a little sparkle to your skin, or you think glitter truly is the herpes of the craft world (once it's on you, it never comes off), some scientists are now claiming that glitter is a hazard to the environment. Glitter, along with microbeads, are considered to fall under the category of microplastics, which are defined as plastics which are less than five millimeters in length. Microbeads are often found in facial scrubs, toothpaste, soaps, cosmetics and more. These microbeads pass through water filtration systems after usage but don't disintegrate, and often end up being consumed by marine life, causing concern among scientists keeping a close eye on how pollution effects fish.
"I think all glitter should be banned, because it's microplastic," Dr. Trisia Farrelly of New Zealand's Massey University told the Independent. Historically, glitter was made from mica rock particles, glass and even crushed beetles. Modern-day crafting glitter is made primarily from metals, while fine-milled cosmetic glitter is made from polyester, foil and plastics.
"I think all glitter should be banned, because it's microplastic," Dr. Trisia Farrelly of New Zealand's Massey University told the Independent. Historically, glitter was made from mica rock particles, glass and even crushed beetles. Modern-day crafting glitter is made primarily from metals, while fine-milled cosmetic glitter is made from polyester, foil and plastics.
Why? Won't industry regulate itself? hahaha
I'd love someone to point me to a single industry that actually does truly regulate itself. Not an industry that makes up rules to appear like they regulate themselves yet the rules are in the favor of the industry and not the consumer or rest of the world. Is there any single industry in the world that does truly regulate itself?
Make the stuff (slowly) water-soluble. So that it can be washed off — in the shower or washing machine.
To make it even less harmful — and sought after — make it edible...
In Soviet Washington the swamp drains you.
The problem is almost entirely the uniquely small size and sudden introduction into a foreign environment. There is a major difference between metal in the ground as ore and metal as it is used in industry, and again a difference between e.g. 1 gram/trillion liters in sea water and 1 gram/billion liters, for everything that breathes it or otherwise lives in constant contact with it. Not just animals but plants, and even both in ecosystems sustain damage. It is the change in availability that literally crowds out existing organisms, causes metabolic problems with what eats it, and especially with what breathes it. Plastic does all that plus has additional problems from chemical leaching that directly harms people, rather than just their food supply.
Newspaper/printer ink used to be polluting; then we switched to organic inks. "Ban all glitter" is knee-jerk magical thinking and unnecessary: Simply alter the composition of the building material. I'm not a chemist, but I'm pretty sure that there are those who can pull this off. Fault can be found with any footprint we leave. To me, "immediate calls to ban" is simply misdirection for (_reason), while real problems go unsolved-and I'm generally an optimist!