5 Gyres – Plastic Pollution from Microbead Cleansers Now a Legal Issue

An article in the San Francisco Chronicle on Apr 16, 2014, highlights the work of Stiv Wilson, Executive Director of the 5 Gyres Institute, and others in their efforts to ban microbeads from personal-care products.  Microbeads are tiny plastic particles added to facial cleansers, shower gels and toothpaste to boost exfoliating effects.

Studies are finding that these mircobeads are able to pass through water-treatment plants entering natural waterways endangering aquatic wildlife as fish mistake the particles for food.  Despite the early stages of these studies, Wilson says “there are concerns about long-term health risks when people eat larger fish that consume the smaller microbead-eating fish.”  The 5 Gyres Institute recently reported that these microbeads have been found throughout the ocean, Great Lakes and the Los Angeles River.

This alert has lead to political action as state bills are now being proposed to eliminate non-biodegradable plastic microbead products from the shelves.  In California, legislation would require microbead products to be eliminated from the shelves by Jan 1, 2016, and in Illinois production of these products would be required to cease by Dec 31, 2017.  Other states, including New York, Minnesota, and Ohio are also considering legal action.

 

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