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Statehouse Bill Would Ban Plastic Microbeads

Microbeads can be found in personal care products like toothpaste and body washes.
Microbeads can be found in personal care products like toothpaste and body washes.

by Karen Kasler

Congress will soon vote on a bill to ban microbeads – those tiny plastic particles in toothpaste, facial scrubs, body washes and other personal care products. And there’s now a new effort to deal with them at the state level.

This isn’t the first time for a bill at the Statehouse to ban microbeads, which don’t degrade and are eaten by wildlife, getting into the food chain.

But Democratic State Rep. John Patterson of Jefferson, which is 10 miles from Lake Erie, said it has a better shot this time because of federal support, and because many companies that produce products containing microbeads are phasing them out.

“The industry is aware,” Patterson said. “The industry is, they understand, being good citizens that they are, that we just have to take a different course.”

A companion bill has been introduced in the Senate, and it has bipartisan support.