Attorney Authored
New Laws Forcing Companies to Phase Out Microbeads
June 10, 2014
BY ADAM REICH
Microbeads have become standard ingredients in cosmetics and personal-care products, including toothpastes, cleansers, and scrubs. The term “microbead” generally refers to a microscopic plastic particle, but it can also be used to include other microscopic ingredients such as vitamin E, sand, flaxseed, and walnut shells. Recently, public outcry against plastic microbeads has grown, decrying the non-biodegradable “plastic soup” accumulating in lakes, rivers, and oceans after microscopic plastics slip through screen holes at wastewater treatment plants. In response, several states are taking steps to legislate away these plastic pollutants. Just this week, on June 9, 2014, Illinois became the first state to pass a ban of the manufacture and sale of microbeads.
New Laws Forcing Companies to Phase Out Microbeads originally appeared in Young Advocates - American Bar Association Section of Litigation, June 2014. This information or any portion thereof may not be copied or disseminated in any form or by any means or downloaded or stored in an electronic database or retrieval system without the express written consent of the American Bar Association.
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