We can't find the internet
Attempting to reconnect
Something went wrong!
Hang in there while we get back on track
Addressing the Issue of Microplastics in the Wake of the Microbead-Free Waters Act—A New Standard Can Facilitate Improved Policy
Summary
Researchers reviewed the U.S. Microbead-Free Waters Act and its limitations, noting that while it eliminated one source of microplastic pollution, it was criticized for its narrow scope and for discouraging biodegradable alternatives. They propose a framework called "Ecocyclable" that could serve as a standard for evaluating whether microplastics are environmentally safe based on their degradation properties. The study suggests that better-defined standards would enable more effective and nuanced regulation of microplastic pollution.
The United States Microbead-Free Waters Act was signed into law in December 2015. It is a bipartisan agreement that will eliminate one preventable source of microplastic pollution in the United States. Still, the bill is criticized for being too limited in scope, and also for discouraging the development of biodegradable alternatives that ultimately are needed to solve the bigger issue of plastics in the environment. Due to a lack of an acknowledged, appropriate standard for environmentally safe microplastics, the bill banned all plastic microbeads in selected cosmetic products. Here, we review the history of the legislation and how it relates to the issue of microplastic pollution in general, and we suggest a framework for a standard (which we call "Ecocyclable") that includes relative requirements related to toxicity, bioaccumulation, and degradation/assimilation into the natural carbon cycle. We suggest that such a standard will facilitate future regulation and legislation to reduce pollution while also encouraging innovation of sustainable technologies.