Korea ranks very high for cosmetic use. However, Korean government has not shown the initiative in regulating the wide use of microbeads. The most certain and effective way to stop the microbeads and microplastic pollution is to ban them in all personal care products.

Microbeads are non-biodegradable microplastics. Their tiny size makes it impossible to be filtered out by the sewage system. Microbeads can be found in cosmetics and personal care products such as toothpaste, body wash and facial scrub. Once discharged to the oceans, microbeads can be ingested by small marine animals mistaking them for food. A research also shows that microplastics may absorb toxic chemicals and pollutants in the ocean.