BYE-BYE Exfoliating Face Wash: Obama Is Outlawing Tiny Plastic Microbeads… Because Of THIS!

by Sierra Marlee | January 1, 2016 12:31 pm

December 18 will live in infamy as the day the Senate passed the bill outlawing the plastic microbeads[1] used in numerous personal care products. Why on Earth would such an innocuous object become the target of United States legislation? It’s all part of Obama’s crusade for the environment.

2FB5CE1E00000578-3380712-image-a-24_1451597065574[2]

From The Daily Mail[3]:

Plastic microbeads used in soaps, body washes and other personal-care products will be phased out starting in 2017 under legislation approved by Congress and signed by President Obama.

The Senate approved the bill December 18 following House approval earlier this month.

Lawmakers said the bill was needed to protect fish and wildlife that are ingesting the tiny beads after they are rinsed down the drain and discharged into lakes and rivers.

Microbeads are tiny plastic particles used as an abrasive in many personal-care and beauty products, such as facial scrubs, soaps and toothpastes.

They do not dissolve and can persist in the environment for decades.

An Environmental Science & Technology study released earlier this year said: ‘we calculate that 8 trillion microbeads per day are emitted into aquatic habitats in the United States.’

Researchers wrote in the study that: ‘the United States emits enough microbeads to cover >300 tennis courts daily.’

Rep. Fred Upton (R-Michigan) and Rep Frank Pallone (D-NJ) were the bill’s co-sponsors, the Detroit News reported.

Upton said in a statement issued to the newspaper: ‘It’s a banner day for Lake Michigan and the Great Lakes — we now have a bipartisan law on the books to cleanse dirty microbeads from all our nation’s waters.

‘Microbeads may be tiny plastic, but they are wreaking big time havoc in our waters.

‘We came together, Republicans and Democrats, and got the job done.’

Upton earlier said: ‘The Great Lakes have survived many a foe — severe pollution, oil spills, discharge from refineries, zebra mussels and attempts to steal our water, just to name a few.

‘We are going to fight any activity that puts our beloved Great Lakes in jeopardy.’

Pallone told the Detroit News: ‘At a time when gaining widespread bipartisan consensus is anything but easy, I am especially glad my bill to cut down on unnecessary pollution and protect our waterways is finally law.’

The federal legislation prohibits the manufacture of products containing plastic microbeads as of July 1, 2017, and phases out sales of the product over the next two years.

I love the planet as much as anyone else because, well, I live here. But exactly how many of those itty bitty teeny weeny microbeads need to be in the water to become a problem?

Endnotes:
  1. plastic microbeads: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-3380712/Goodbye-exfoliating-face-wash-Obama-outlaws-tiny-plastic-microbeads-shower-gels-don-t-dissolve-harmful-environment.html#ixzz3vxmwsRHF
  2. [Image]: https://rightwingnews1.wpenginepowered.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/01/2FB5CE1E00000578-3380712-image-a-24_1451597065574.jpg
  3. The Daily Mail: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/

Source URL: https://rightwingnews.com/environment/bye-bye-exfoliating-face-wash-obama-is-outlawing-tiny-plastic-microbeads-because-of-this/