Addressing the Issue of Microplastics in the Wake of the Microbead-Free Waters Act-A New Standard Can Facilitate Improved Policy.
Environ Sci Technol
; 51(12): 6611-6617, 2017 Jun 20.
Article
in En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-28505424
ABSTRACT
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.
Full text:
1
Collection:
01-internacional
Database:
MEDLINE
Main subject:
Plastics
/
Water Pollutants, Chemical
Language:
En
Journal:
Environ Sci Technol
Year:
2017
Type:
Article
Affiliation country:
United States