Whether you are a man or a woman, and whatever your investment level in skincare is, you have likely noticed that the beauty industry is booming.
Skincare products, make-up and anti-ageing serums are all over social media and shops, with the global beauty market expected to reach $590 billion (€516bn) by 2030, according to recent reports.
Some of these products, however, might contain microplastics — tiny pieces of plastic that contribute to environmental pollution and whose health effects are currently being studied.
But why do microplastics end up in these products? And how are they regulated across the European Union (EU)?
Euronews Tech Talks sat down with Iseult Lynch, an environmental chemist and professor at the University of Birmingham, and Hélène Duguy, an environmental lawyer for the non-governmental organisation (NGO) ClientEarth, to answer these questions.
What’s inside beauty products?
Microplastics can be found both in rinse-off products like facial scrubs and in leave-on products like moisturisers and lipsticks.
Plastic in itself is not incredibly problematic: “The challenge with plastics is the additives in them largely, so things that are added to those plastics to make them mouldable, usable,” Lynch explained.
Lynch underlined that plastics may contain plasticisers, colourants and toxic chemicals like per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), which can pose issues to human health.
Microplastics are added to beauty items for multiple reasons, including smoothness and glitter effects.
However, there are alternatives to replace them, including bio-based polymers derived from non-edible plant components, Lynch explained.
For example, rice husks can be processed into biodegradable particles that can be an alternative to microplastics.
How are beauty products regulated?
Microplastics in beauty products are regulated under the Commission Regulation (EU) 2023-2055, which was adopted by the European Commission in 2023.
This legislation is not exclusively about cosmetics, as it covers a wide range of intentionally added microplastics, including in fertilisers and detergents.
“It’s the broadest restriction that we’ve had in Europe on chemicals because it targets a huge group of polymers, which is a first,” Duguy told Euronews Next.
Despite this restriction, skincare products and make-up in European bathrooms could still contain microplastics. “The restriction puts forward several transition periods, depending on the type of cosmetics we’re talking about,” Duguy said.
According to the European legislation, rinse-off personal care products must be phased out by 16 October 2027, leave-on cosmetics by 16 October 2029 and make-up by 16 October 2035.
However, these transitional periods mainly concern the placing of products on the market: “Companies are still going to be able to use the remaining stocks that they have, so microplastics are going to be around for a while,” Duguy added.
According to Duguy, whose NGO supported the microplastics restriction, the EU law on microplastics in cosmetics represents an important precedent for the bloc, which will next have to consider imposing a comprehensive ban on all PFAS, a group of over 10,000 man-made chemicals.
“Microplastics have been the first trial case for other chemicals that are similarly persistent, and that need to be handled as a group because, obviously, it wouldn’t work to deal polymer by polymer,” Duguy said.
Additional sources • Johan Breton, sound editing and mixing and James Thomas hosting