MADISON, WI (WTAQ) – Wisconsin is not the only state considering a ban on microbeads in soaps, cosmetics, and toothpaste.
A House committee in Indiana endorsed its own proposed ban Wednesday. New York and Illinois have bans in place, and Wisconsin is among several states considering them.
Microbeads are key exfoliating ingredients — but scientists recently learned that the often invisible beads have been flowing from sewage plants into the Great Lakes among other places.
Experts say microbeads now make up 20 percent of all pollution from plastics in the Great Lakes.
Assembly Republican Mary Czaja of Irma and Senate Republican Rob Cowles of Green Bay announced the Wisconsin proposal last month. Their bill would prohibit the manufacture of products with microbeads after 2017. The sale of those items would then be banned after 2018.
The chief sponsor of the Indiana ban, House Democrat Patrick Bauer of South Bend, said there’s been little opposition to the proposals. He said it’s because large manufacturers are substituting microbeads with natural materials like sea salt and ground-up fruit pits.
The Indiana ban would gradually phase out the sale of products with microbeads from 2017 through 2019.
(Story courtesy of Wheeler News Service)