A Cleveland-area lawmaker has proposed banning Ohio stores from selling facial scrubs, toothpaste and other products that contain synthetic microbeads, saying the tiny particles are polluting Lake Erie and killing fish.
State Sen. Mike Skindell, a Lakewood Democrat, said the miniscule bits of plastic are too small to be caught by water-treatment plant filters and end up in lakes, rivers and other bodies of water, where they often become a toxic meal for fish — and could, in turn, be ingested by humans.
A 2012 study found microplastics made up half the plastics found floating on Lake Erie, according to the New York Daily News. Personal-care products were the number-one source of the microplastics found.
Under Senate Bill 304, introduced on Monday, businesses would be fined $1,000 each day they violate the ban.
Skindell said the ban wouldn’t cover exfoliants made from natural materials, such as walnut shells, that disintegrate over time.
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