Legislation Proposed to Ban Sale of ‘Microbead’ Beauty Products

Attorney General Eric Schneiderman and Assemblyman Robert Sweeney are proposing first-in-the-nation legislation banning a form of plastic pollution that is an emerging threat to New York’s Great Lakes and other bodies of water.

The “Microbead-Free Waters Act” will prohibit the sale in New York state of beauty and cosmetic products that contain tiny plastic particles called microbeads. The plastic beads were recently found in alarmingly high levels in Lake Erie.

The beads can persist in the environment for centuries and accumulate toxic chemicals on the surface of bodies of water, threatening fish, wildlife, and public health.