Baroness Parminter – 2016 Parliamentary Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs

The below Parliamentary question was asked by Baroness Parminter on 2016-03-10.

To ask Her Majesty’s Government what assessment they have made of the impact of microplastics from toiletries and detergents on aquatic life.

Lord Gardiner of Kimble

Microplastics from cosmetic products make up a very small percentage of the total of microplastics entering the marine environment, with estimates ranging from 0.01% to 4.1%. Defra has funded a project, undertaken by the University of Plymouth, to study the effects of microplastics in the marine environment. The project studied whether chemical pollutants stick to plastic particles, whether marine organisms ingest plastic particles and pass them along the food chain, and whether the plastics themselves, or associated chemical pollutants, could cause harm to those organisms. The final report for this project is currently undergoing peer review.