Plastics in Toothpaste and Beauty Products

A local grocery store will stop carrying a number of popular personal care products next month due to a number of companies insistence of including polyethylene microbeads as one of their main ingredients.

Wegmans, with stores in Rochester, Johnson City, Ithaca, Elmira, Syracuse, and all over the northeast, are removing brands including Crest, Olay, Neutrogena, Aveeno, Garnier and others in a couple of weeks.  Some of these products may be reformulated and may return to store shelves at a later date.  Click HERE for the entire list of products affected.

The problem with microbeads is they do not break apart when they are flushed and have caused problems in local water plants.  High levels have been found in the Great Lakes, killing fish and hurting wildlife. Microbeads present a great threat to our oceans.

You may notice those specks in your toothpaste no bigger than than a grain of sand.  Those are microplastics or microbeads as they are called.  Microbeads are somewhat new as the man made product replaced traditional, biodegradable alternatives such as ground nut shells, and salt crystals.  The bottom line is companies want to save money.

Erie County, near Buffalo has passed a ban, so has the state of Illinois and California is working on passing a ban.