Glitter gives all sorts of arts-and-crafts projects a bit of sparkle. But when it comes to the environment, glitter’s effects aren’t so pretty. The shiny plastic pieces can end up in waterways and harm ocean life. That’s led some scientists to call for a worldwide glitter ban.
Glitter is a microplastic—a piece of plastic less than 5 millimeters (0.2 inches) in diameter. Marine animals often confuse microplastics with food. Some of these plastics, including those used to make most glitter, have been shown to disrupt animals’ hormones when eaten. These chemical messengers control many functions in the body.
And it’s not just glitter that is causing a problem for wildlife. All trash made of plastic tends to break down into smaller pieces of microplastic over time. “We are now finding plastic in rainwater, sea salt, and air,” says Trisia Farrelly, an ecologist at Massey University in New Zealand who has called for a ban on glitter.