WATERLOO — The simple act of washing your face could be helping to clog the Great Lakes with plastic pollution.

A new study by researchers at the University of Waterloo is the first comprehensive assessment of the plastics problem in the Great Lakes. Their research found that in certain parts of the Great Lakes, the density of plastics floating on the surface is the same as that seen in the notorious "plastic garbage patches" in the world's ocean gyres.

Lake Erie had the highest concentration of plastic debris among the Great Lakes — higher even than Lake Geneva, which has more than three times the surrounding population density.

One type of plastic pollution that's getting more attention is microbeads, tiny plastic beads used in face scrubs, body washes, toothpaste and other consumer products. The tiny flakes of plastic are made of polyethylene, the same stuff used to make shopping bags and recycling bins, and act as an exfoliant, scrubbing away dead skin cells.

Although there still isn't a lot of information about the distribution of plastics in the Great Lakes, studies to date make it clear microbeads are "a significant component" of all plastic pollution in the Great Lakes, says Alex Driedger, the lead author on the study. For instance, microbeads were found in water released from six out of seven wastewater treatment plants in New York state.

The beads are so tiny they're not captured by water filtration plants. Plastic from microbeads "flushes through from our drains to the lakes and the seas," Driedger said. "It's not filtered anywhere."

Those tiny beads pose several serious environmental concerns:

• Like all plastics, they persist in the environment, for hundreds if not thousands of years.

• Microplastics act like sponges, concentrating toxic chemicals like heavy metals and long-outlawed chemicals such as DDT or PCBs, which have severe environmental effects and cause cancer and birth defects.

• Wildlife ingest the microplastic, which has been found in the muscle tissue of fish, potentially transmitting those toxins up the food chain and onto our dinner plates.

• The beads can clog the gut of a fish or mollusk, causing them to starve, says Halifax MP Megan Leslie, who introduced a motion in the House of Commons last month calling for a ban on the microbeads.

The study estimates it would cost almost $500 million a year to fight plastics pollution in the Great Lakes through public education, beach cleanups and other measures. Installing sophisticated microfilters in all the treatment plants discharging into the Great Lakes system would cost billions more, estimates Hans Dürr, another of the authors of the study.

Which is why the researchers are encouraged by the growing momentum to ban microbeads and replace them with natural substitutes such as apricot shells, oatmeal or sugar crystals.

Several major companies, including L'Oreal, Unilever, Johnson & Johnson and Procter & Gamble, are voluntarily phasing out microbeads over the next several years. Illinois has banned their use, while a handful of other states, and Ontario and Quebec, have introduced similar legislation or are considering doing so.

Leslie's motion to classify plastic microbeads as a potential toxin recently won all-party assent in the House of Commons, and the federal government says Environment Canada has begun a scientific review of their impact on the environment.

That review seems to be progressing quickly: Driedger and Dürr said they've already been contacted by Environment Canada.

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Until those bans are in place, consumers can check ingredient lists on products, Dürr said. Anything listing polyethylene or polypropylene likely contains microbeads.

The researchers don't want people to forget the larger issue, though. Microbeads are "just one particular stream of plastic that is entering the environment," Driedger says. "This is a great first step, and it's bringing awareness to the plastics issue. But the focus should remain on the other streams" and the ongoing challenge to eliminate them from our lakes and oceans.