There Is An Almost Unseen Plastic Product,

slowly making it's way to our tables,

an estimated 808 trillion pieces of it swirl down American drains every day, when this plastic-laden wastewater goes through treatment plants, about 99 percent of the plastic settle into sludge, which is often used as fertilizer, thanks to rain and runoff, this can still enter the water supply, meanwhile the one percent that escaped the sludge, roughly 8 trillion pieces of plastic, are released directly into Americas waterways, that's enough plastic to cover 300 tennis courts, 

 so it's no surprise that high concentrations of this plastic have been discovered in the Great Lakes and other freshwater reservoirs, the plastics readily absorb pollutants, and to a hungry aquatic organism, little pieces of plastic look pretty tasty, the smallest particles of plastic can even become snacks for plankton, and travel all the way up the food chain, when a fish gobbles up contaminated plastic, or some plankton that have been noshing on it doesn't just put the animal at risk, it also increases the odds that pollution-laden plastic will make its way to your dinner plate, some of the pollutants that the plastic picks up have been linked to birth defects, cancer, and developmental problems in humans, this plastic don't just contain pollutants, the plastic can also release BPA and other chemical additives,

the chances are that you are a part of the problem, tiny bits of plastic in question are called micro beads, the plastic beads are found in exfoliating body washes and facial scrubs, since their introduction in 1972, they have made their way into more than 100 personal care products, there's mounting evidence that these beads, while great at scraping dead dermis are equally adept at killing marine life and bringing harmful chemicals into the food chain, since 2012, when researchers searched the Great Lakes for small pieces of plastic and found high concentrations of microbeads, environmentalists have campaigned to ban them, last week, Congress finally agreed, it booted microbeads from the consumer supply line, this will become law in 2017, but until then make sure you do not add to the 808 trillion micro beads going down the drain every day by making sure the exfoliating body wash and facial scrub you are using contains only natural products like ground nut shells or crushed apricot seeds, if you notice polyethylene or polypropylene, two types of plastic commonly used in microbeads in the label you are a part of the problem!