Each bubble here represents a product from the 3 most valuable cosmetic brands in the world in 2022.

Out of the 1120 products on this graph, 990 products contain at least one ingredient classified as microplastics. That is 88.4%.

Microplastics are tiny plastic particles less than 5 mm in length. Manufacturers add them into cosmetic products for various purposes. For example, tiny plastic beads in body wash helps with exfoliation.

Microplastics in cosmetics eventually enter the rivers and oceans through the sewage system, and get ingested by aquatic animals from planktons to whales. They block the digestive tracts of aquatic organisms and bring harmful chemicals into their bodies.

We are consuming microplastics too, for sure — microplastics have been found in a wide range of commercially harvested seafood.

By the end of 2022, 15 countries have banned the manufacture and/or sale of plastic microbeads in rinse-off cosmetics.

The loophole lies in how microplastics are defined in these regulations. Take a look at how the United State’s Microbead-Free Waters Act defines "microbeads" on the left.

Likewise, existing bans on microplastics in cosmetics in other countries almost exclusively restricts their target to microplastics in rinse-off cosmetics and used for exfoliation or cleansing purposes.

This leaves out all other microplastics in leave-in cosmetics, or used for other purposes, such as emulsifying and improving texture.

Here are a few of the most common types of microplastics found in each type of cosmetic products.

The size of the bubbles represents the percentage of products that contain this microplastic ingredient out of all products of its type.

The deeper the color, the more common the microplastic is within this product type.