We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Synthetic polymers in personal care and cosmetics products (PCCPs) as a source of microplastic (MP) pollution
Summary
A market survey and consumer questionnaire study in Sri Lanka identified toothpaste as the personal care product with the highest content of synthetic polymer microplastics, and found that consumer awareness of MPs in cosmetics was low. The authors estimated substantial theoretical emissions of primary MPs from personal care products into the environment based on per-product polymer content.
Intentionally added MPs in PCCPs have created concerning threats to the environment. Therefore, this study aimed to screen synthetic polymers having MPs favoring chemical properties in PCCPs while estimating the theoretical emission into the environment and the level of awareness on the availability of MPs in PCCPs. A questionnaire survey was conducted via Google form using a complete random sampling method (n = 312). Next, a market survey was conducted and theoretical estimations were calculated for the products that recorded the highest MPs favoring polymers. Toothpaste products were identified as mostly used (95.8 %) and face cleanser (20.8 %) as least used. Of those MP ingredients, many chemical ingredients (11) were acrylate copolymers, and dimethicone polymers (5). A total of 21.4 trillion MP particles are released to the environment annually from considered four PCCPs. This study evidenced the availability of MP favoring chemicals in PCCPs in the Sri Lankan market that need further assessments.