Finally! Microbeads Ban In the Works…
In a victory for environmentalists, and, well, the environment, the House recently voted to ban microbeads in the U.S.. Here’s why we should celebrate!
Plastic microbeads have become a source of concern over the past few years, as these tiny plastic beads have begun polluting our waterways, causing problems for marine life, not to mention humans who eat seafood.
These tiny plastic beads are commonly added to face and body washes, soaps, and even toothpaste, but as they are too small to be filtered out by water treatment facilities, more and more of them end up in our rivers, lakes, and oceans, and are consumed by fish.
Luckily, a few states have already banned microbeads, and a nation-wide ban is in the works; see the article below for more on this recent news:
Yesterday, the U.S. House of Representatives voted in favor of banning the use of synthetic micro-plastics in personal care products. The bill was introduced by New Jersey representative Frank Pallone last summer, and has since gained bipartisan support. A companion bill has also been brought to the Senate by Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters of Michigan.
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Senators Stabenow and Peters, along with Representative Fred Upton of Michigan all expressed concern over this source of plastic pollution ending up in the Great Lakes. Illinois was the first state to pass a microbead ban in the summer of 2014, with a similar concern.
The federal ban will supersede the state bans, and allow for a faster phase-out according to Pallone. If the House bill is made into law, the phase-out will begin in 2017 and microbeads will completely banned by 2018.
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Check out the full article at TreeHugger.com…
