What Are Microbeads?A single bottle of facial scrub can contain up to 300,000 microbeads. Microbeads are very small pieces of plastic found in body washes and facial scrubs. Since its introduction in 1972, microbeads have made its way into beauty and hygiene products by big companies such as L'oreal and Unilever. In their largest dimension, microbeads are less than one millimeter in width and length. Microbeads are often made out of polyethylene, but it can also be made of polypropylene and polystyrene.
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HOW ARE MICROBEADS AFFECTING THE PLANET?
One million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die every year from plastic pollution in the ocean.
Humans
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When fish and other aquatic animals consume microbeads, the beads stay in the digestive tracts and move all the way through the food chain, ultimately ending up on a human's plate. Various chemicals that leach into surrounding waters can get absorbed by microbeads, which then release these chemicals into dish's digestive systems for humans to potentially consume. These chemicals, depending on what they are, can have a large variety of effects on humans, such as interference in normal hormone functions and weight gain.
Environment
More emphasis is placed on larger plastics and microbeads, due to their size, are often disregarded. However, microbeads are very difficult to destroy as their size prevents them from being visible and they are nearly everywhere. Microbeads are too small to be filtered out by wastewater treatment systems, so they are washed into the environment where they can stay for up to 10,000 years. Pollution from microbeads have been found in many bodies of water around the globe, including oceans, lakes, rivers, ponds, and even our water supply. Due to the disruption of wildlife in these habitats, the overall food webs and ecosystems are affected. Additionally, microplastics have been found in agricultural soils since some farmers use sewage-based fertilizers. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has found increasing amounts of microplastic contaminants in surface water.
ALGENERATION PRESENTS:
ALGAL BIOMASS MICROBEADS
In order to reduce the amount of plastic waste in the ocean, our team came up with a solution to replace the plastic in microbeads with algal biomass! By doing so, we will prevent millions of microbeads from entering our waterways while retaining the exfoliating properties of microbeads consumers love. We believe that consumers can still enjoy the benefits of a physical exfoliate by microbeads without the adverse environmental impacts. In addition, microbeads have been outlawed in the United States since 2016. However, many brands have been including the microbeads in myriad products such detergents and cosmetics that can be on skin. Therefore, we hope with our product, the companies that are still using plastic microbeads, in the United States and around the world, will replace them with a more sustainable version.
HOW ARE THE ALGAL MICRO-BEADS MADE?
Sourcing
HOW WILL THE ALGAL BIOMASS BE SOURCED?
Algal biomass is the amount of algae in a water body at a given time. Algae can grow in salt water, freshwater, or even contaminated water. Therefore, algae can be sourced at almost all bodies of water. They are often found suspended in the water or associated with the bottom surfaces. For the algae that is suspended in the water, a plankton net will be dragged across the water and the net will collect the algae while allowing water to pass through. The algae that lives on the bottom of the waters can be scooped up, washed, and massaged to clean and collect the algae. Any additional liquids and sediments are transferred to a collection bag and returned to their habitats. There are multiple species of brown algae, so we will ensure to source different types of algae to minimize the effects of sourcing on the algae population.
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