Scientists are highlighting the damage that glitter does to our environment. They want a worldwide ban on the shiny pieces of plastic that decorate everything from eyelids to furniture. Scientists from a New Zealand university say glitter is a micro-plastic and it should be banned. A large amount of glitter ends up in the world's oceans. Fish cannot digest it because it does not break down. It stays in the food chain. Professor Richard Thompson found that plastic particles were discovered in about one-third of the fish caught in seas around the United Kingdom.
Micro-plastics are less than five millimeters long. Most glitter produced around the world is micro-plastic. Another professor told a newspaper: "I think all glitter should be banned because it's a micro-plastic." Professor Thompson said he was concerned when somebody bought his daughters some shower gel with glitter in it. He said the glitter would, "escape down the plughole and potentially enter the environment". The cosmetics company Lush is discontinuing its use of plastic glitter. It said: "We've avoided micro-plastics by switching to synthetic and mineral glitter."