Ireland is to become the first county in the EU to ban microbeads in shower gels, scrubs, and cleaners.
The ban will include shower gels, soaps and scrubs as per some other European countries, but will be the first to include household cleaning items that can also be washed down the drain. Microbeads are generally no larger than one millimetre in size and are most commonly made from polyethylene. However, some microbeads are also made from other plastics such as polypropylene and polystyrene.
Microbeads end up in fresh waters and oceans due to their ability to pass unfiltered through sewage treatment plants.
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