Recently, GreenPeace found tiny plastic micro-beads in the livers of wild fish. So what are these micro-beads, and why should we ban them?

In the UK, these plastic micro-beads can be found in a wide range of our cosmetics: from our toothpastes to our face scrubs. They are added by companies in order to help "scrub" off substances such as plaque and grease from our teeth and skin.

However, when these reach filtering plants through our sinks and drains, they are so small, measuring approximately 1mm in diameter, that they can not be filtered out. This means that thousands of these plastic pieces flood into the sea every day, entering the eco-system.

These micro-beads then enter the food chain through small fish that mistake them for food and swallow them. Not only does this affect the whole food chain, right through to our plates, but it also kills coral, a beautiful and significant part of the underwater eco-system, and adds to the 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile already floating around in our seas.

So, what can we do?

The first steps would be to ban products using these beads from the UK, and encourage companies to use natural alternatives, such as bamboo and salts. Hopefully, if we start now, we can prevent even more damage to such a precious eco-system.