A ban on microbeads
President Barack Obama signed the Microbead Free Waters Act of 2015 on Dec 28, 2015. The bill requires that all products containing plastic microbeads will begin to be phased out starting July 1, 2017. Environmentalists have warned that these tiny plastic beads found in exfoliators, scrubs, and toothpastes easily end up in lakes, rivers, and oceans. There, they pick up toxic pollutants and are ingested by fish, which are then ingested by humans.
Research conducted by Oregon State University found that eight tons of microbeads a day are emitted into bodies of water in the US and 90% of the planet’s seabirds have pieces of plastic in their guts.
In New York alone, nearly 19 tons of microbeads are washed into wastewater yearly, according to a report from the office of the state’s attorney general, Eric T. Schneiderman. Likewise, the Great Lakes, which contain 20% of the world’s freshwater, are riddled with microbeads. Research from 2013 conducted by the State University of New York found that Lake Ontario contained an estimated 1.1 million plastic particles per square kilometer.
Read the article on why biodegradable microbeads are not a safe alternative either: https://www.yahoo.com/beauty/say-goodbye-to-your-microbead-exfoliators-194745613.html
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