My name is Cara Joubert and I am an undergraduate student studying a degree in Environmental Management. As part of a project that I did for my degree, I analysed 15 cosmetic facial scrubs that you would find in most shops. 14 out of the 15 products that I tested contained microplastics, which are small bits of plastic that mostly appear in the form of micro-beads which are used as scrubbing agents for exfoliation.

Microplastics are an unseen harm. These small plastic pieces are used for their scrubbing power in products like toothpaste, body wash, sunscreen, deodorant, lipstick, eyeliner, and nail polish.

The Vaal and Mooi Rivers, for example, are contaminated with microplastics because of the extent to which they are available in products that we often use. River water is used in agricultural irrigation systems, meaning that the microplastics in the river water are absorbed by agricultural soil which, in turn, are absorbed by plants growing in that soil. We, as humans, then consume these plants with microplastics. This can negatively affect your hormones, digestive, reproductive, immune and respiratory systems. Marine organisms in contaminated rivers also ingest in the same microplastics and so the harmful cycle, called bio accumulation, continues.

Currently there are no regulations on the use of microplastics and micro-beads in South Africa! Nothing to ban or even limit their use. Some countries such as the US, Sweden and the UK have already banned the use of microplastics altogether.

So please join me in calling on the South African government to start by banning:

• the importation of cosmetics from countries where microplastics are not banned;
•  and the production of cosmetics in South Africa with microplastics

for the benefit of all of our health and that of the environment.