IMPACT OF COSMETICS AND DETERGENTS ON OUR SEAS AND RIVERS(SEWAGE WASTE DUMPING)
The important topic and the one close to my heart.
There are two types of waste cosmetics and household cleaning products create.
1. The plastic packaging they come in
2. The toxic ingredients present in them which are impossible to biodegrade.
Biodegradable is a strong term which i quite often use when describing my products ingredients or packaging.
Micro beads in the ingredients and packaging was one of the main pollutant until recent months when UK made it law to eliminate it from our products.But the problem doesnt stop there there are still many ingredients which are impossible to degrade naturally and stay in the ecosystem for years to come.
Few examples:
Oxybenzone which is found in sunscreens which when entered in our sewage system and then into our rivers and oceans destroy the coral reefs and oceanic eco system.
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/news/sunscreen-corals.html
Benzophenone which is used as a fragrance enhancer in soaps and shampoos is another harmful ingredient
Cyclomethicone also knows as silicones are present in drug store bought almost all kinds of skin and personal as they enhance the feel and texture of the end product but they are extremely harmful to the environment as they dont biodegrade
Formaldehyde the common preservative used in cosmetics is one of the most dangerous ingredient both for human body and the environment even though this is a biodegradable ingredient it is highly toxic to aquatic life as it readily breaks down in water and mixes instantly.
Homosalate is one more ingredient which readily absorbs into our system and disrupts the hormones..They do the same thing to the aquatic life disturbing their hormonal balances.
In a recent study showed that number fish in our rivers are becoming hermaphrodites this is mainly because of the untreated sewage dumping into our rivers and oceans the highly toxin filled sewage is altering the oceanic and river ecosystem and changing the species sexualty in a rapid way.
Domestic wastewater contains pollutants ranging from biologic hazards and microplastic particles to soaps and fats. Agricultural wastewater contains biologic hazards, salts, pesticides and fertilizers. Urban wastewater includes domestic and industrial wastewater but also contains runoff from storm drains. Storm drains carry pollutants from yards and parks (dirt, pet waste, pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers) as well as from streets and parking lots (oil, gasoline, dirt and trash). Industrial wastewater contains a wide range of chemicals that include petrochemicals and other chemicals, acids, radioactive materials and salts. Recent findings show that a variety of drugs also contaminate wastewaters.
Bacteria and other organisms in freshwater use oxygen to metabolize the sewage they accompany. While breaking down the sewage, these micro-organisms can cause hypoxic (oxygen-depleted) dead zones. These dead zones lack oxygen that fish and other native organisms need to survive. Shellfish infected with sewage-related bacteria sicken people around the world. In marine environments, human gut bacteria can infect coral and cause coral bleaching disease. When coral lose their natural bacteria and algae, they die, resulting in zones where the coral ecosystem, from bacteria to fish populations, dies.
Drugs ranging from hormones (which affect reproductive development in fish and amphibians) to legal and illegal amphetamines to antidepressants have entered aquatic ecosystems. Some of the drugs pass into the sewage system in the urine and feces of users while some of the drugs have been flushed down the drain. One controlled study of the effects of amphetamines on aquatic organisms showed accelerated insect reproduction, decreased algae populations and changes in diatom and microbe diversity.
I am gonna end the blog and not keep on writing by one simple thing please read the ingredients before buying the clean ingredients are the ones which you can read easily and understand easily the lesser the ingredients the cleaner the product.
Packaging please only buy single use plastic free products and try hard to buy reusable packaging.
buy local ....buy clean....buy plastic free....
save our oceanic life........