Microbeads in personal care products: An overlooked environmental concern

One of the most concerning issues of the 21st century is the problem of microplastics, which is linked to an exponentially expanding usage of personal care products, such as toothpaste, face scrubs, and soaps. Consumption of personal care products has risen quickly, and it is predicted that the microplastic utilised in these items will release 4594 to 94,500 mu Bs into the environment. Thus, the mass emission of worldwide of personal care products derived microplastics can reach up to 1.2 x 104 tonnes per year. From 1970 to 2019, the environment has been exposed to up to 3.00 x 105 tonnes of personal care products derived microplastics. One of the significant sources of secondary microplastics (also known as "microbeads", diameter of about 100-200 mu m) is rarely reported. It has the potential to rapidly enter the food chain and cause major health and also have a very negative impact on the environment. Different analytical techniques, including a Pyr-GC/MS, TE-DGC/MS, DSC SEM-EDS, and HPLC, were employed to determine the various chemical compositions and morphologies of various microplastics. This review will guide future research to identifying the sources, types, levels, and presence of microbeads in personal care products as well as their environmental fate, removal, updated policies and regulations for microbeads.