California Legislators About Plastic Pollution

California Legislature Failed by One Vote to Enact a Ban on the Use of Plastic Microbeads in Personal Care Products

SB 270 (Padilla) passed making California the second state in the nation to ban single use plastic grocery bags. According to Miriam Gordon, California Director of Clean Water Action, "passage of the single use plastic bag ban and the failure of the microbead ban by the California legislature makes no sense. Both bills are aimed at eliminating plastic pollution in the marine environment. Thousands of plastic microbeads are discharged to waterways every time someone washes facial and skin scrubs containing plastics down the drain."

In the last 10-20 years, the personal care products industry began substituting plastic beads for the more natural products they used to use as exfoliants in skin care products. According to Anna Cummins, Executive Director of the 5 Gyres Institute, "these products are an egregious example of a product with no recovery plan - designed to wash directly from our faces down the drain, and into our precious water systems. Our research in the Great Lakes provides scientific evidence of these beads contaminating inland waters. These plastic beads absorb contaminants, are eaten by organisms, and can introduce toxic chemicals like PCBs and pesticides into our food chain."

In California, an estimated 38 tons of plastic microbeads are discharged Into California's Inland and coastal waters each year.

Gordon said, "many people think that these beads will be removed when wastewater gets treated, but most sewage treatment systems rely on settling of solids as the primary form of treatment. Since most plastic beads float, they get discharged with treated wastewater to inland or coastal waters."

Assemblymember Bloom, the author of AB 1699, worked hard to gain the support of to the personal care products industry, but they remained opposed because they wanted plant-based plastics to be exempt from the prohibition. According to Gordon, "bio or plant-based plastics behave exactly the same way in the marine environment as those made from petroleum. An exemption for plant-based plastics makes no sense." There are already many alternatives to plastics used by many companies. These include almond and other nut hulls, and cocoa beans.

Source: HighBeam

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