Microbeads could be harming you before they’re washed down the drain

Microbeads are tiny plastic beads barely visible to the eye. Short for microscopic beads, they’re usually about the size of the tip of a pencil. They’re so small you may have used microbeads without knowing. “They are used in consumer products — a wide range of consumer products including sunscreens, face creams and even toothpaste,” said Jake Vander Zanden, a professor of limnology at UW-Madison.