AUGUSTA, Maine - They are no more than one-third of a millimeter in size, but synthetic plastic microbeads pose a huge problem to waterways and wildlife, according to environmentalists, who would like to see them disappear.
More than a dozen people appeared before a legislative policy committee today in support of a bill that would ban the substance contained in personal care products and over-the-counter drugs. Maine is among 20 states that are introducing some form of prohibition on microbeads this year.
Commonly used in facial scrubs and body washes, plastic synthetic microbeads might clean up your complexion, but critics say they have anything but a cleansing effect on the environment. Maine has joined a growing number of states that are considering legislation to ban microbeads. And Emma Halas-O'Connor, of the group Prevent Harm, says it's about time.
"Microbeads are a toxic pollutant," she says. "They attract pollutants that are already in the environment to them and those end up in fish and end up building up in the food chain and end up in the highest concentrations in the bodies of human beings. So that's our primary concern with micro beads."
Sponsored by Republican Sen. Tom Saviello, of Wilton, the bill would phase in a ban on microbeads, beginning in three years, with a total prohibition in place by the end of 2019. Saviello told members of the Legislature's Environment and Natural Resources Committee that the ban is necessary because existing wastewater filtration systems were never designed to handle a particle ranging in size from a millimeter down to a thickness 100 times smaller than the thickness of a dime.
"These microplastics are so small that they literally pass through our systems, or, as we wash our face, go to the waste treatment facility that you have. And it may be your septic system or it may well be a city or town wastewater system," Saviello said. "They are so small that they stay suspended and ultimately are discharged into the water and ultimately discharged into the ocean. So it's time to change."
"Recreational and commercial fisheries-based activities in Maine require clean water," said Michael Kuhns, director of the Bureau of Land and Water Quality at the Maine Department of Environmental Protection.
Kuhns said his agency is not taking a position on the bill because of concerns about the burden on retailers, who will be required to identify whether the products they sell contain microbeads. But Kuhns says the intent of the legislation is desirable and recognized by many manufacturers who are already moving away from using microbeads in their skin care products.
Kathy Ramsdell, representing Friends of Casco Bay, told lawmakers that recent tests indicate that micobeads pose a threat to Mainers - particularly those who enjoy their shellfish.
"One researcher has been studying blue mussels and oysters and has detected microbeads in the living tissue, and has then extrapolated that," Ramsdell said, "and has made an estimate last year that European shellfish consumers - where she does her research - who eat the same species of blue mussels that we do, have an annual dietary exposure of as many as 11,000 pieces of microplastics per year."
The Environment and Natural Resources Committee opted to act immediately on the bill after its public hearing and voted unanimously to support the phased-in ban of microbead products.