Monday, July 14, 2014

USA: plastic Microspheres can be banned from personal care products until 2018

Leave a Comment
Last month, Congressman Frank Pallone proposed a new legislation in the House of representatives of the United States that could end the sale and products containing plastic microspheres in the country until 2018. The microspheres are small plastic pieces used as exfoliants on a wide range of beauty products and toiletries, including SOAP, toothpaste and facial creams.

The microspheres are too small to be properly separated from the wastewater treatment stations. As such, these little pieces of plastic ends up in rivers, lakes and oceans. Additionally, this form of pollution through the plastic is extremely difficult to remove and can be ingested by fish and other animals.

"We have a responsibility to put an end to this unnecessary plastic pollution," Pallone said in a statement, quoted by the Tree Hugger. "The fasearmos the extinction of these plastic microspheres and use no synthetic alternatives can protect the waters of the United States before it's too late".

Most are plastic microspheres of petroleum origin, such as polyethylene and polypropylene. However, there are many biodegradable alternatives already used by producers of cosmetics, including sea salts or almonds.

Photo: Markus Eriksen/Tree hugger

If You Enjoyed This, Take 5 Seconds To Share It

0 comments:

Post a Comment