In our bathrooms, they have been part of the landscape for years. However, from 2020, cotton swabs should start to be scarce, until they disappear completely.
From January 1, 2020, plastic cotton swabs will be banned for sale to individuals, so they cannot be found in supermarkets: on the other hand, they can still be used in the medical environment by health professionals.
This measure, taken within the framework of the law for biodiversity (passed in 2016), was requested by environmental defense associations: indeed, complicated to recycle, cotton swabs pollute the oceans and threaten life. Marine.
Cotton swabs, banned from supermarkets
“A lot of people throw cotton swabs in the toilet bowl … In 2015, we found no less than 16,226 in rivers or on European coasts. Put end to end, this is equivalent to three and a half Eiffel Towers, ”Antidia Citores, spokesperson for the Surfrider Foundation Europe association, explained to our colleagues from Le Parisien in 2016.
And, finally, it may not be a bad thing … Indeed, according to some doctors, cotton swabs, which dry out the skin inside the ears and remove the protective wax from them when used too frequently, could be harmful to our health.
Since January 1, 2018 (and still within the framework of the law for biodiversity), scrubs with microbeads are also prohibited for sale.
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