Courtesy of The Story of Stuff Project  Another gem from The Story of Stuff Project – this time about the dangers of tiny plastic microbeads in many products we use daily, which go down the drain and into our lakes, … Continue reading →

Tiny polyester fibres, which are washed into rivers, lakes and seas every time we do our laundry could cause more harm to animals than plastic microbeads, finds a new study. The researchers looked at the effect of microbeads and fibres on a small crustacean called Ceriodaphnia dubia, which lives in freshwater lakes. They found that although both types of plastic were toxic, microfibres caused more harm. Both microplastics stunted the growth of the animals, and reduced their ability to have offspring; microfibres, however, did this to a greater degree, and also caused noticeable deformities in the crustacean’s body and antennae.

Made of plastic and metal, it harms our oceans just like microbeads.

Each wash with a microbead product can release as many as 94,500 microbeads into our waterways.