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Federal Microbead Ban Closes Wisconsin Loophole, Say Environmentalists

Recently Passed State Law Would Have Allowed Manufacturers To Use Biodegradable Beads

By
Melly Kay (CC-BY-NC-ND)

Environmentalists say a federal ban on microbeads in consumer products that recently got congressional approval closes a loophole in a Wisconsin measure that passed earlier this year.

The microbeads in question are tiny particles of plastic used as abrasives in face washes, toothpaste and other health and beauty products. Wastewater treatment plants often don’t capture the microbeads, meaning the plastic ends up in waterways.

Molly Flanagan of the Alliance for the Great Lakes said Wisconsin, like some other states, planned to let companies continue to use plastics that were biodegradable.

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“Some manufacturers have been testing new types of plastic products that they claim will biodegrade in the environment,” she said. “The problem is that those products have not been shown to biodegrade in a natural freshwater environment.”

Flanagan said the federal law, which takes precedence over the Wisconsin statute, doesn’t include the exemption for biodegradable plastic.

Companies still have about two years to stop selling products with plastic microbeads. Flanagan said she’s OK with giving firms time to switch to a more environmentally friendly alternative.