Congress Takes Quick Action to Keep Plastic Microbeads Out of U.S. Water

A bill to clean up the environment and keep toxins out of the food chain has sailed through the U.S. Congress with virtually no debate.

The Microbead-Free Waters Act requires health and beauty companies to stop using the tiny, plastic abrasives in products by 2017.

Microbeads, made from ground plastic pellets like those above, are used in products ranging from facial scrubs to toothpaste. They don’t break down in water treatment plants and about 11 billion of them end up in American waterways every day.

They’re not toxic, but toxic chemicals sticking to the microbeads are eaten by marine life. The contamination is then passed up the food chain — even to humans who eat seafood.

http://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/congress-takes-quick-action-to-keep-plastic-microbeads-out-of-u-s-water/