City Council Considers Microbead Ban

A bill introduced in the New York City council on Wednesday would ban the sale of products that contain microbeads, and impose fines on stores that carry them.

The small, plastic beads are believed to be found in about a hundred products in the U.S., including exfoliating skin cleansers. About 19 tons of microbeads end up in waterways throughout the state, according to a report that Attorney General Eric Schneiderman released last year.

“The fish eat em. The fish are then eaten by other animals. They end up in our food chain. They end up on our dinner plates," said Schneiderman.

Schneiderman has called for a statewide ban twice, but the efforts collapsed in the Senate.

The lead sponsor of the bill in the city council is Dan Garodnick, who said he has followed the issue since he read the Attorney General’s report. He said urgent action is needed to prevent microbeads from entering waterways.

“This is a problem which is a growing problem and one which most people don’t even appreciate as a problem,” said Garodnick.

Garodnick said product makers used alternatives — such as oatmeal, sea salts and ground almonds — long before microbeads existed. He said his bill would not limit consumers' options.

“It is not the end of exfoliation as we know it,” says Garodnick. “It is just simply the end of plastic beads that are doing real harm to our waterways.”

New Jersey and several other local governments in New York have already moved to ban microbeads.

Garodnick's office shared a list of products, compiled by the International Campaign Against Microbeads in Cosmetics, that could be subject to the ban in New York City.