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G Allen Burton, Losing sight of science in the regulatory push to ban microbeads from consumer products and industrial use, Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management, Volume 11, Issue 3, 1 July 2015, Pages 346–347, https://doi.org/10.1002/ieam.1645
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DEAR SIR:
Here we go again.
Last summer, the state of Illinois was the first to ban tiny plastic microbeads in cosmetics, such as face wash. State legislators claimed the ban was a necessary response to what researchers and environmental groups claim is a serious environmental threat and the US Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) has labeled as $13 billion annually in damages to marine life. On March 4 of this year, Illinois Congressmen Upton and Pallone introduced House Bill 1321 “to prohibit the sale or distribution of cosmetics containing synthetic plastic microbeads.” Similar measures are now pending in 13 states and in the US Congress. New York's Attorney General Schneiderman, supported by Senator Gillibrand and a host of environmental groups, has proposed legislation to ban microbeads in cosmetics citing a need to “restore and protect New York's waters.” Similar legislative efforts are underway in the European Union. It is rare when science and politics are on the same page, and this latest example of the rush to regulate is no exception.