Tiny ‘green beads’ could end plastic poison peril
PLASTIC microbeads used in body washes and beauty products could be replaced by a plant-based alternative developed by British academics.
Millions of the beads end up in the sea where they attract toxins and get into the food chain. As calls for a ban on them grow, scientists have been trying find alternatives.
Now a team from the University of Bath have developed a microbead made out of cellulose, the natural substance found in the tough fibres of plants.
Once flushed into the sewers, the ‘green beads’ degrade into harmless sugars.
The Daily Mail’s Ban the Beads campaign has exposed the dangers posed by plastic microbeads in beauty products, face washes, shower scrubs and make-up.
They end up in rivers and seas where they become magnets for toxins and are consumed by fish and shellfish which end up on our dinner plates. Research by the University of Plymouth found more than one in three fish caught by trawler in the English Channel, including cod, haddock and mackerel, contained the particles.
Studies at the University of Exeter have found that the entire food chain of sea creatures – from minuscule zooplankton through to fish – have effectively become contaminated by microplastics.
Before the general election was called the Government announced it would ban plastic microbeads, consequently manufacturers are looking for alternatives. Scientists and engineers at the University of Bath’s Centre for Sustainable Chemical Technologies (CSCT) has developed a way of producing a biodegradable version which can be manufactured in bulk.
A solution of cellulose is forced through tiny holes in a membrane, creating droplets.
They are washed off the membrane with vegetable oil before being collected and separated from the oil.
The beads can be tweaked by changing the structure of the cellulose to, for example, make them harder. Researcher Dr Janet Scott, of the department of chemistry and part of the CSCT, said: ‘Microbeads are often made of polyethylene or polypropylene.
‘These are derived from oil and take hundreds of years to break down. We’ve developed a way of making microbeads from cellulose, which is not only from a renewable source, but also biodegrades into harmless sugars.’