A bill to ban the manufacture or sale of personal care products containing small plastic particles known as “microbeads” by the year 2019 was passed by the U.S. House following a December 7th vote. The bill (HR 1321) was introduced by Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-NJ) an proposes banning microbeads manufacture beginning July 2017 and all sales of products containing them by July 2019. Microbeads are polypropylene or other plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in size and can be found in some personal care products ranging from facial exfoliators to toothpastes. Microbeads became an environmental pollutant concern once they were found to be contaminating waterways.
The bill will now move to the U.S. Senate and could get final approval as early at this week, which may land the bill on President Obama’s desk before the end of the year.