MAY 21, 2015
Those tiny blue specks in toothpaste and the gritty granules
in many facial cleansers could soon be banned in California.
The State Assembly is scheduled to vote Friday on the
nation’s toughest ban
on plastic microbeads, used in a variety of personal care products, from
body wash to exfoliating creams.
Environmentalists say those tiny beads are not biodegradable
and generate an estimated 38 tons of plastic pollution in California. One jar
of facial cleanser can contain more than 300,000 microbeads, which are usually
less than 1 millimeter in diameter.
The concern is that the beads wash down drains, go through
wastewater treatment plants and end up in oceans, lakes and rivers.
Not only can the beads be ingested by fish, which mistake
them for eggs, but they also are a magnet for toxins, which are absorbed by the
plastic and end up in creatures’ stomachs, said Sue Vang, a policy analyst at
Californians Against Waste, a nonprofit group that is part of a coalition
calling for the ban.
“The toxins get injected into fish tissue,” she said, and
when people eat the fish, it ends up in their bodies. “Tuna and swordfish are
being found with microplastics in their stomachs.”
There is even evidence of dentists finding the particles in
patients’ gums, Vang said.
Microbeads are increasingly added to personal care products
because they are cheaper than natural exfoliants, such as salt, sugar and
ground walnut shells, corn kernels and apricot pits.
After a report revealed the presence of plastic beads in the
Great Lakes, Illinois last year banned the sale and manufacture of personal
cosmetic products containing added nonbiodegradable synthetic microbeads — the
first state to do so. Four other states (New Jersey, Colorado, Maine, Wisconsin)
have since passed similar laws or are in the process of enacting them.
‘Tuna and swordfish are being found with microplastics in
their stomachs.’
Sue Vang policy analyst, Californians Against Waste
A bill introduced in New York failed to pass last year but
is likely to be reintroduced because of a report by State
Attorney General Eric Schneiderman that found that 19 tons of microbeads
are flushed down the drain in the state and the issue is becoming a problem for
water treatment plants there.
Legislation has been considered in 18 states, Vang said, but
California’s proposed ban is the only one that would forbid the sale of all
products with synthetic microbeads, whether manufacturers claim they break down
naturally or not.
“We don’t believe there is anything commercially available
that meets an acceptable standard,” she said.
California already prohibits using “biodegradable’’ on
labels for products such as plastic water bottles. That 2008 law — the only one
in the U.S. — also bars labeling plastic bags and containers as compostable or
marine degradable unless the item meets very specific testing standards.
“The bills that have passed so far have very big loopholes
in them,” said Stiv Wilson, the campaign director at the Story of Stuff
Project, which is part of the coalition pushing for the ban and produced the
video “Let’s Ban the Bead!”
“California’s is the first really good policy that would actually address the
problem.”
Proponents of the ban have been negotiating with
manufacturers of personal care products and the association that represents
them, the Personal Products Care Council, to come up with environmentally sound
substitutes.
The council did not return phone calls asking for comment.
But some major companies, such as Johnson & Johnson and
Procter & Gamble, have pledged to use alternatives to plastic microbeads in
their merchandise. Already, some firms have phased out the beads in products
where they are used more for color than function.
“The thing about plastic is that it’s made to stay around
forever,” Wilson said. “That’s why it’s a valuable material. It doesn’t fall
apart.”
Some companies are working to create a biodegradable form of
the plastic beads, he said, but none want to share their research on microbead
alternatives because of industry competition.
“But we want to know that this is safe before we’re going to
allow for that,” he said. “We just can’t take industry’s word for it.”
He is working to ensure that a federal ban under
consideration does not allow the use of any plastic beads.
Democratic Assemblyman Richard Bloom, authored the
California bill. A version of it passed the Assembly last year but failed in
the state Senate by one vote. He’s optimistic that it will pass both houses
this year and that when it does, it will trigger change nationwide, he said.
“California is the seventh-largest economy in the world,” he
said.
“Manufacturers are going to tend to adhere to California standards.”
Microbeads began appearing in products about a decade ago,
he said, largely to differentiate products from the competition.
“Microbeads in toothpaste really serve no functional
purpose, but we’re led to believe they help,” Bloom said. “Some major
manufacturers are already moving to natural alternatives.”
What about the silica sand? This is carcinogenic compound.
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Amended IN Senate August 19, 2014
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Amended IN Senate August 04, 2014
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Amended IN Senate June 19, 2014
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Amended IN Assembly May 20, 2014
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Amended IN Assembly May 12, 2014
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Amended IN Assembly April 22, 2014
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Amended IN Assembly March 28, 2014
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CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2013–2014 REGULAR SESSION
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Assembly Bill
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No. 1699
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Introduced by Assembly Member Bloom
(Coauthors: Assembly Members Nestande and Coauthor: Assembly Member Stone) |
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February 13, 2014 |
An act to add Chapter 5.9 (commencing with Section 42360) to
Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, relating to waste
management.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 1699, as amended, Bloom. Waste management: synthetic
plastic microbeads.
The Safe Drinking Water and Toxic Enforcement Act of 1986
(Proposition 65) prohibits any person, in the course of doing business, from
knowingly and intentionally exposing any individual to a chemical known to the
state to cause cancer or reproductive toxicity without giving a specified
warning, or from discharging or releasing such a chemical into any source of
drinking water, except as specified. Existing law prohibits the sale of
expanded polystyrene packaging material by a wholesaler or manufacturer.
Existing law prohibits a person from selling a plastic product in this state
that is labeled with the term “compostable,” “home compostable,” or “marine
degradable” unless, at the time of sale, the plastic product meets the
applicable American Society for Testing and Materials standard specification.
This bill would prohibit, after January 1, 2019, a person,
as defined, from selling or offering for promotional purposes in this state a
personal care product containing synthetic plastic microbeads, as specified.
specified, unless the personal care product is an over-the-counter drug, and
would prohibit a person, after January 1, 2020, from selling or offering a
personal care product containing synthetic plastic microbeads, including a
personal care product that is an over-the-counter drug. The bill would exempt
from this prohibition those prohibitions the sale or promotional offer of a
product containing less than 1 part per million (ppm) by weight of synthetic
plastic microbeads, as provided.
The bill would make a violator liable for a civil penalty
not to exceed $2,500 per day for each violation. The bill would authorize the
penalty to be assessed and recovered in a civil action brought in any court of
competent jurisdiction by the Attorney General or local officials, as provided.
The bill would require the civil penalties collected in an action brought
pursuant to the act to be retained by the office of the Attorney General or
local official who brought the action.
The bill would declare that its provisions occupy the whole
field of regulation of the sale or offering for promotional purposes of
personal care products containing synthetic plastic microbeads and would
microbeads. The bill would prohibit a city, county, or other local public
agency, on or after January 1, 2019, from adopting, enforcing, or otherwise
implementing, an ordinance, resolution, regulation, or rule, or any amendment
thereto, relating to the sale or offering for promotional purposes of personal
care products that are not over-the-counter drugs and that contain synthetic
plastic microbeads, and would prohibit a city, county, or other local public
agency from taking similar actions, on or after January 1, 2020, relating to
the sale or offering for promotional purposes of personal care products,
including, but not limited to, over-the-counter drugs, that contain synthetic
plastic microbeads, except as expressly authorized.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO
Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NO
Bill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
Chapter 5.9 (commencing with Section 42360) is added
to Part 3 of Division 30 of the Public Resources Code, to read:
CHAPTER 5.9. Synthetic Plastic Microbeads
Nuisance Prevention Law
42360.
The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
(a) Plastic does not biodegrade like other organic
materials, but, upon exposure to the elements, photodegrades into smaller
pieces, causing land and water pollution that is virtually impossible to
remediate.
(b) Plastic pollution is the dominant type of
anthropogenic debris found throughout the marine environment.
(c) Plastic pollution is an environmental and human
health hazard and a public nuisance.
(d) Consumer personal care products such as facial
scrubs, soaps, and toothpaste increasingly contain thousands of synthetic
plastic microbead particles, ranging from 50 to 500 microns, which are flushed
down drains as part of their intended use.
(e) Plastic Synthetic plastic microbeads in personal
care products are not recoverable through ordinary wastewater treatment and so
are released into the environment.
(f) Plastic Synthetic plastic microbeads of the size
found in personal care products are ingested by marine organisms.
(g) Plastic Synthetic plastic microbeads attract other
pollutants commonly present in the environment, many of which are recognized to
have serious deleterious impacts on human health or the environment, including
DDT, DDE, PCBs, and flame retardants.
(h) Plastic Synthetic plastic microbeads have been
found in surface waters within the United States, as well as in fish, marine
mammals, and reptiles, and in the digestive and circulatory systems of mussels
and worms.
(i) PAHs, PCBs, and PBDEs from plastic transfer to fish
tissue during digestion and bioaccumulate, resulting in liver damage.
(j) Fish that humans consume have been found to ingest
synthetic plastic microbeads.
(k) There are many biodegradable, natural alternatives
to synthetic plastic microbeads that are economically feasible, as evidenced by
their current use in some consumer personal care products.
42361.
As used in this chapter, the following terms have the
following meanings:
(a) “Over-the-counter drug” has the same meaning as
defined in subdivision (d) of Section 110286 of the Health and Safety Code.
(a)
(b) “Person” means an individual, business, or other
entity.
(b)
(c) (1) “Personal care product” means an article
that is intended to be rubbed, poured, sprinkled, or sprayed on, introduced to,
or otherwise applied to, the human body or any part thereof for cleansing,
beautifying, promoting attractiveness, or altering the appearance, and that may
to be rinsed off, off in normal use conditions, including an article intended
for use as a component of such an article.
(2) “Personal care product” does not include a
prescription drug, as defined in Section 110010.2 of the Health and Safety
Code.
(c)“Plastic microbead”
(d) “Synthetic plastic microbead” means an
intentionally added plastic particle of non-water-soluble plastic measuring
five millimeters or less in size in every dimension.
42362.
(a) On or after January 1, 2019, a person shall
not sell or offer for promotional purposes in this state any personal care
products containing synthetic plastic microbeads. microbeads, unless the
personal care product is an over-the-counter drug.
(b) On or after January 1, 2020, a person shall not
sell or offer for promotional purposes in this state a personal care product
that contains synthetic plastic microbeads, including, but not limited to, a
personal care product that is an over-the-counter drug.
42363.
Section 42362 shall not apply to any person that sells
or offers for promotional purposes a personal care product containing synthetic
plastic microbeads in less than 1 part per million (ppm) by weight.
42364.
(a) A person who violates or threatens to violate
Section 42362 may be enjoined in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(b) (1) A person who violates Section 42362 is
liable for a civil penalty not to exceed two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500) per day for each violation in addition to any other penalty
established by law. That civil penalty may be assessed and recovered in a civil
action brought in any court of competent jurisdiction.
(2) In assessing the amount of a civil penalty for a
violation of this chapter, the court shall consider all of the following:
(A) The nature and extent of the violation.
(B) The number of, and severity of, the violations.
(C) The economic effect of the penalty on the person.
(D) Whether the person took good faith measures to
comply with this chapter and the time these measures were taken.
(E) The deterrent effect that the imposition of the
penalty would have on both the person and the regulated community as a whole.
(F) Any other factor that justice may require.
(c) Actions pursuant to this section may be brought by
the Attorney General in the name of the people of the state, by a district
attorney, by a city attorney of a city having a population in excess of 750,000
persons, or, with the consent of the district attorney, by a city prosecutor in
a city or city and county having a full-time city prosecutor.
42367.
The civil penalties collected pursuant to Section
42364 shall be retained by the office of the city attorney, city prosecutor,
district attorney, or Attorney General, whichever office brought the action.
42368.
(a) This chapter does not alter or diminish any
legal obligation otherwise required in common law or by statute or regulation,
and this chapter does not create or enlarge any defense in any action to
enforce the legal obligation. Penalties and sanctions imposed under this
chapter shall be in addition to any penalties or sanctions otherwise prescribed
by law.
(b) This chapter addresses a matter of statewide
interest and concern and is applicable uniformly throughout the state.
Accordingly, this chapter occupies the whole field of regulation of plastic
microbeads, the sale or offering for promotional purposes of personal care
products containing synthetic plastic microbeads except as provided in
subdivision (a).
(c) On and after January 1, 2019, a city, county, or
other local public agency shall not adopt, enforce, or otherwise implement, an
ordinance, resolution, regulation, or rule, or any amendment thereto, relating
to the sale or offering for promotional purposes of personal care products that
are not over-the-counter drugs and that contain synthetic plastic microbeads,
except as expressly authorized by this chapter.
(d) On and after January 1, 2020, a city, county, or
other local public agency shall not adopt, enforce, or otherwise implement, an
ordinance, resolution, regulation, or rule, or any amendment thereto, relating
to the sale or offering for promotional purposes of personal care products,
including, but not limited to, over-the-counter drugs, that contain synthetic
plastic microbeads, except as expressly authorized by this chapter.