Papers

61,005 results
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Article Tier 2

An integrated approach to address the biodegradability of cosmetic formulations as part of a corporate sustainability strategy

Not relevant to microplastics — this paper describes a corporate sustainability framework for evaluating and improving the biodegradability of cosmetic product portfolios, helping companies prioritize reformulation of high-impact products and ingredients.

2024 International Journal of Cosmetic Science 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustentabilidade no processo produtivo da indústria cosmética: uma revisão da literatura

This systematic literature review examined sustainability practices in the cosmetics industry, including the growing concern over microplastic ingredients in cosmetic products. The review identified trends toward greener formulations, sustainable packaging, and consumer-driven pressure for environmental responsibility. The cosmetics sector is increasingly recognizing its environmental impact and exploring alternatives to synthetic microplastics.

2022 Research Society and Development 5 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainable Assessment of the Environmental Activities of Major Cosmetics and Personal Care Companies

This paper is not directly about microplastics; it assesses the environmental sustainability activities of major cosmetics and personal care companies, including OEM/ODM manufacturers and retailers, covering broad issues like climate change, waste, and water use.

2023 Sustainability 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainability Schemes in the Cosmetic Industry: Scope, Credibility, and Value Chain Coverage

Despite its title referencing sustainability schemes in cosmetics, this paper studies the credibility and coverage of 24 eco-certification labels used in the cosmetics industry — not microplastic pollution. It examines gaps in lifecycle coverage and greenwashing risks within certification schemes and is not relevant to microplastics or human health.

2026 Sustainability
Article Tier 2

Towards Sustainable Cosmetics Packaging

Not directly relevant to microplastics — this review examines the broader sustainability challenges of cosmetics packaging, including environmental, social, and economic trade-offs, without a specific focus on microplastic pollution.

2023 Preprints.org 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Polymers and the eco-design transformation. A cosmetic perspective

This review examines the role of polymers in cosmetic products and strategies for eco-design transformation, analyzing the development of environmentally friendly polymer alternatives that maintain cosmetic performance and safety while reducing microplastic pollution, with attention to biodegradability, renewable sourcing, and regulatory requirements across the product lifecycle.

2025 Green Materials
Article Tier 2

Microplastic aquatic impacts included in Life Cycle Assessment

Researchers developed a method to include the environmental damage caused by microplastic pollution in standard lifecycle assessments (LCAs) — the tool companies use to measure a product's environmental footprint — and found that plastic pollution often dominated the toxicity impact scores for consumer packaging. Adding plastic pollution to these assessments could help identify where in a product's life cycle plastic losses cause the most ecological harm.

2024 Resources Conservation and Recycling 22 citations
Article Tier 2

Eco-Designing Cosmetic Products while Preserving the Sensorial-Application Properties: An Instrumental Approach toward Sustainable Formulations

Researchers explored eco-design approaches for reformulating cosmetic skin care products using natural and biodegradable ingredients. The study demonstrated that synthetic texturizers like nylon-12 and PMMA could be replaced with starch, maltodextrin, and silica while maintaining sensorial application properties, supporting the reduction of microplastic-generating ingredients in personal care products.

2024 Cosmetics 11 citations
Article Tier 2

Method to incorporate green chemistry principles in early-stage product design for sustainability: case studies with personal care products

Researchers developed a method integrating green chemistry principles with ecological risk assessment and life cycle assessment to guide sustainable early-stage product design for down-the-drain consumer products such as personal care items, demonstrating the approach through case studies.

2022 Green Chemistry 10 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainability

This design chapter examines sustainability as a goal for product and system design, connecting everyday products like shampoo bottles and their microplastic-shedding contents to broader environmental challenges. Design choices from product conception through end-of-life determine whether a product contributes to microplastic pollution.

2023
Systematic Review Tier 1

The missing link: A systematic review of microplastics and its neglected role in life-cycle assessment

This systematic review found that life-cycle assessments of plastic products almost never account for microplastic pollution. This means the true environmental and health impacts of plastics are being significantly underestimated in the tools used to guide policy decisions. The researchers call for better data on microplastic release and its effects so that the full cost of plastic products can be properly measured.

2024 The Science of The Total Environment 18 citations
Systematic Review Tier 1

It is time to develop characterization factors for terrestrial plastic pollution impacts on ecosystems in life cycle impact assessment – a systematic review identifying knowledge gaps

Researchers reviewed how plastic pollution is — and is not — accounted for in life cycle assessments (LCAs), which are tools used to measure a product's full environmental footprint. They found that while ocean plastic impacts have been partially modeled, freshwater and terrestrial plastic pollution, including microplastics, are still missing from standard environmental impact calculations, leaving a major blind spot in sustainability analysis.

2025 The International Journal of Life Cycle Assessment 3 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastic litter in life cycle assessment: Advances of the marine impacts in life cycle assessment international taskforce and application to case studies

Researchers reviewed advances in incorporating marine plastic litter impacts into life cycle assessment, focusing on recently developed indicators for biodiversity and ecosystem quality. The new indicators allow LCA practitioners to account for plastic pollution when comparing product systems and informing design choices.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Towards Sustainable Color Cosmetics Packaging

This paper is not directly about microplastics — it reviews the challenges and strategies for developing sustainable packaging for color cosmetics, focusing on environmental, economic, and consumer behavior factors rather than plastic particle pollution.

2023 Cosmetics 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Consumer Habits and Practices for Cosmetics: a Statistical Approach

Despite its title referencing cosmetics consumer habits, this paper studies the behavioral and sociological factors driving cosmetic purchasing decisions — not microplastic pollution. It examines survey data on consumer attitudes toward cosmetic products and is not relevant to microplastics or human health.

2025 Journal of Science and Arts 1 citations
Article Tier 2

Innovative Approaches to an Eco-Friendly Cosmetic Industry: A Review of Sustainable Ingredients

This review examines sustainable alternatives to conventional cosmetic ingredients, including plant-based, microbial, and recycled materials that could replace synthetic and potentially harmful components. While not directly about microplastics, cosmetic microbeads have been a significant source of microplastic pollution, and the push for eco-friendly ingredients helps reduce plastic particles entering waterways. The shift toward sustainable cosmetics is part of broader efforts to decrease human exposure to synthetic microparticles.

2024 Clean Technologies 72 citations
Article Tier 2

A Comparative Life Cycle Assessment of Electronic Retail of Household Products

A life cycle assessment of online versus in-store shopping for household and cosmetic products found that parcel delivery has significant environmental impacts depending on packaging choices and delivery logistics. While not focused on microplastics, the study addresses plastic packaging as a key driver of environmental cost.

2020 Sustainability 14 citations
Article Tier 2

Exploration of microplastics from personal care and cosmetic products and its estimated emissions to marine environment: An evidence from Malaysia

Microplastics including microbeads were quantified in personal care and cosmetic products sold in Malaysia, with scrubs and toothpastes as the top contributors, and estimated emissions to marine environments were calculated. The findings support the case for regulations banning plastic microbeads in cosmetics as a pollution prevention measure.

2018 Marine Pollution Bulletin 216 citations
Article Tier 2

Sustainability in the Cosmetics Industry: Environmental Impacts, Statistics, and Solutions

This literature review examined the environmental impacts of the cosmetics industry, focusing on chemical pollutants released during production, microplastic ingredients, and packaging waste. The study found that the cosmetics sector contributes substantially to environmental contamination and called for stronger sustainability standards.

2025 Özgür Yayınları eBooks
Article Tier 2

Updated and comprehensive characterization factors for microplastics in life cycle assessment considering multimedia fate modelling

Researchers updated life cycle assessment characterization factors for microplastics, developing comprehensive factors that account for ecosystem quality, human health, and socioeconomic impacts across multiple environmental compartments. The updated factors enable LCA practitioners to more accurately compare the plastic pollution impacts of different product systems and waste management strategies.

2024 Zenodo (CERN European Organization for Nuclear Research)
Article Tier 2

Regionalized Characterization Factors for Microplastic Emissions in Life Cycle Assessment Considering Multimedia Fate Modelling

Researchers developed location-specific impact factors for microplastic emissions to be used in life cycle assessments, accounting for how plastics move between air, water, soil, and sediment. Their model covers nine world regions and shows that the environmental impact of microplastic emissions varies significantly depending on where they are released. The study helps fill a gap in current environmental impact tools, which tend to overlook plastic pollution when comparing products.

2025 2 citations
Article Tier 2

Strategies for efficient management of microplastics to achieve life cycle assessment and circular economy

This review examines strategies for managing microplastic waste through a circular economy and life cycle assessment (LCA) lens, arguing that current recycling practices and waste disposal methods are inadequate given the sheer volume of plastics entering ecosystems. The authors propose a conceptual framework integrating LCA principles into microplastic management to better quantify ecological risks and guide more sustainable plastic use policies.

2023 Environmental Monitoring and Assessment 9 citations
Article Tier 2

Plastics and Microplastic in the Cosmetic Industry: Aggregating Sustainable Actions Aimed at Alignment and Interaction with UN Sustainable Development Goals

This review examined how the cosmetics industry uses microplastics and petroleum-derived polymers in product formulations and packaging, and assessed industry efforts to align with UN Sustainable Development Goals. Regulatory pressure and bioeconomy policies are accelerating substitution of synthetic microplastics with bio-based alternatives.

2022 Polymers 56 citations
Article Tier 2

Life Cycle Assessment of Selected Single-Use Plastic Products towards Evidence-Based Policy Recommendations in Sri Lanka

Researchers applied life cycle assessment to common single-use plastic products in Sri Lanka, quantifying their environmental impacts across production to disposal and providing evidence-based recommendations to guide national plastic pollution policy.

2022 Sustainability 22 citations