Did you know that most hygiene products use substances derived from plastic?
With all of these hygiene products, huge quantities of microplastics then seep into sewers which end up polluting forests, crops, waterways or even our oceans.
Every day we use hygiene products that have an impact on both our bodies and the environment. The biggest risks are skin-related (irritation, allergies, etc.) and even worse, that many of the chemical ingredients can be transferred through bodily fluids (urine, blood, through umbilical cords or breast milk).
Petrochemicals
A large part of the components that appear in cosmetic products are made from petrochemicals and contain carcinogenic substances, pesticides, synthetic plasticizers, etc. The impacts on the environment are disastrous. Some cosmetic products even contribute to the thickening ozone layers by emitting what are called Volatile Organic Compounds. Most of these chemical substances persist in water even after filtration and then contaminate the water which we then draw tap water from. We’re ingesting, in turn, the plastics that we ourselves pour down our own drains!
Moving towards ecological cleaning products is an act of being conscious about what is good for our health, and respect for the environment and what’s needed to protect it.
Sources: (1)(6) Slow Cosmétique: Stop a tous les plastiques dans les cosmétiques. (2) Inox Ecologie: Pourquoi les microbilles de plastiques sont-elles un danger. (3) notre-planete.info: Cosmétiques : vérifier la présence d’ingrédients chimiques risqués pour la santé et l’environnement. (4) Rtbf.br: Produits cosmétiques: toxiques pour l’environnement. (5) Ademe
