“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,” Pallone said. "This is a commonsense solution to the serious problem of harmful plastic microbeads seeping into U.S. waterways and threatening the environment and, ultimately, public health. I am proud to have worked with Chairman Upton to swiftly move this bill through Congress and see this much-needed legislation become law.”
Microbeads, which are used in products such as face wash and toothpaste, can seriously damage aquatic ecosystems, which they are able to enter by floating through water treatment and filtration systems due to their diminutive size. President Barack Obama recently signed the representatives’ legislation, H.R. 1321, into law, providing for a phasing out of microbead use.
“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,” Upton said. “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.”
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