Watch Out for Those Microbeads!
If you’re a Crest toothpaste fan, and especially if your paste of choice comes in that blue-gel form with itty bitty dots of who-knows-what in it, listen up! Those dots? They’re microbeads. Guess what they’re made of? Yep…plastic! Argh! Not only have microbeads infiltrated facial cleansing products, they’re being swished around our mouths every time we think we’re doing our teeth a favor. “They’re so tiny, though! How much harm could they really do?” Good question…what’s a dental enthusiast to do?
Read up on the issue, of course! 5 Gyres put together a great, simple infographic detailing exactly what this whole microbeads debacle is all about and why we might choose to care about it. The good news is that as of last month, Crest has agreed to slowly phase out the use of microbeads in its pastes. Better still, Proctor and Gamble, the parent company to Crest, has already declared that it will rid its product line of microbeads by 2017 at the latest which is pretty amazing considering it’s one of those mega-corporations. Just goes to show you what some sound science and solid citizen action can do!
But don’t wait for P&G to drop the beads! In the meantime, do some homework and find a brand that will clean your pearly whites, without the addition of plastic particles. Blech!
