NGOs claim the European Chemicals Agency’s proposal for restricting microplastics in cosmetics and other products could “make a growing problem worse” by excluding particles smaller than 100 nanometers. The agency clapped back on 1 September, maintaining its proposal was developed in a scientific manner based on input from all stakeholders, including NGOs.

Uncertainties related to leave-on cosmetics’ microplastic releases to the environment, and the costs industry would face in removing microplastic from such products, “do not allow for SEAC to conclude whether other options would be more appropriate than a ban,” the European Chemicals Agency’s Socio-Economic Analysis Committee says in a 1 July draft opinion.

“How well do we understand the complex sector that supports every facet of our life?” asks Cosmetics Europe’s website for the “Essentials for Daily Life” film series co-developed with the trade association’s members in partnership with BBC StoryWorks Commercial Productions.