WASHINGTON (WKZO-AM) — Legislation to eliminate plastic microbeads in cosmetic products and over-the-counter drugs has moved onto the U.S. House floor after clearing the Energy and Commerce Committee.
Co-sponsor Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, of said the measure would keep microbeads from being ingested by fish, most notably in the Great Lakes.
“They pass easily through the filters of our water filtration plants and into our water systems,” Upton said. “The fish think they’re food, and, of course, they eat these and don’t digest, and they could easily pass into the human food chain.”
If enacted, the Microbead-Free Waters Act would be phased in over a two-year period beginning in the middle of 2017.
– John McNeill
