Rep. Miller Applauds House Passage of Legislation Banning Microbeads from Consumer Products

Press Release

Today, Rep. Candice Miller (MI-10) issued the following statement after House passage of the Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 (H.R. 1321), legislation she cosponsored to ban the production and distribution of household products that contain synthetic microbeads:

"Microbeads pose a serious threat to the health of the Great Lakes, which account for over 20 percent of the world's freshwater drinking supply, and recent studies have already identified high concentrations of them. Added to personal care products like exfoliating soaps and scrubs, these tiny synthetic plastic microbeads pass right through our water filtration and treatment plants and attract other pollutants in the Lakes before being consumed by fish and wildlife, thus becoming part of our food chain.

"I generally oppose imposing federal mandates on states, and, while a small number of Great Lakes states have already taken action to ban microbeads, the threat they pose is just too great to wait for each state to adopt this necessary ban individually. Today, the House passed the Microbead-Free Waters Act, legislation that creates a nationwide ban that will stop microbeads from further infiltrating our precious waterways. I urge the Senate to take swift action on the legislation."

The Microbead-Free Waters Act of 2015 (H.R. 1321), introduced by Rep. Fred Upton (MI-6) and Rep. Frank Pallone (NJ-6), the Chairman and Ranking Member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, amends the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act to ban products that contain synthetic plastic microbeads starting July 1, 2018.

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