The Environmental Disaster Called Glitter

Pollution comes in many forms and some significantly impact wildlife and the waterways. Glitter is one of those pollutants.

Glitter is a microplastic that can harm marine life. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is located just a few hundred miles north of Hawaii. The United Nations states that there are 51 trillion pieces of microplastic particles polluting the ocean. To put this into perspective, they further state that this number is 500 times more than the number of stars in our galaxy.

Pieces of plastic have now even reached the pure waters of the Arctic Ocean. Damage to marine life and ocean waters continues to spread.

CNN calls glitter "the ultimate supervillain of the craft and makeup world." It often takes weeks to completely remove glitter from your home after a craft project.

Glitter was invented until 1934. The craft and cosmetic industries are where most glitter is now used. The U.S. Air Force briefly got into the glitter business by using a cloud of glitter to disable enemy radar. They did this by blowing it out the back of their jets.

Every year near the holiday season ophthalmologists warn small glitter pieces can easily get into your eye and scratch your cornea, increasing your risk for an eye infection or permanent vision loss.

Beyond the annoyance of finding it on your skin, in your hair, on your clothes and throughout your home, once washed down the drain, glitter becomes a problem for wastewater treatment plants and our waterways. Environmental scientists believe taking the step to ban glitter is an important way of reducing the amount of microplastic particles that make their way into the oceans and fresh water, damaging aquatic life. These bits of microplastic particles are consumed by marine life, and collect in bird's stomachs, causing the birds to die of starvation.

Biodegradable and safe glitter substitutes are being developed and not a moment too soon!

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