Mich. House may ban bits in soaps that hurt Great Lakes

LANSING — Since mid-2014, nine states have passed laws that will phase out the manufacture and sale of personal care products, like toothpaste and facial cleansers, that contain plastic microbeads.

The tiny particles are included in products as a way to scrub grime off of teeth and skin and is even included in some shampoos. The problem has become that the millions of plastic microbeads are so small they bypass water treatment facilities and end up in lakes, oceans and rivers across the nation — and basically stay there indefinitely.

The microbeads have been found in enormous amounts in lakes Erie, Huron and Superior at a rate of 43,000 per kilometer and are ending up in Great Lakes fish.

And now the Michigan House of Representatives is looking at a similar ban.

"The Great Lakes are too important to the people of the state of Michigan to continue a practice that could have such an adverse impact," Michigan Department of Environmental Quality's Deputy Director Maggie Pallone told the House Natural Resources Committee last week. "It's a clear issue and clear threat to the fish in the Great Lakes."

Toxic contaminants can also attach to the microbeads, which then are eaten by fish, potentially landing them in the food chain, she added.

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Neighboring Great Lakes states including Illinois, Wisconsin and Indiana have passed bans phasing out the production and sale of products with microbeads by Jan. 2, 2018; and federal lawmakers from Michigan, including U.S. Rep. Fred Upton, R-St. Joseph, and U.S. Sens. Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, have introduced bills that would ban microbeads from personal care products. The other states that have approved phasing out products with the microbeads are California, Colorado, Connecticut, Maine, Maryland and New Jersey.

"With four out of five Great Lakes, 6.5 million acres of wetland, and over 11,000 inland lakes, water is fundamental to how Michigan views it future," Michigan's DEQ director told the U.S. House Energy and Commerce Committee in May. "A federal ban will ensure the essential elimination of a patchwork of regulations across the states. You'd get consistency and conformity."

Nothing has happened with the federal proposal since that hearing in May.

The personal care products industry has agreed to voluntarily remove the plastic microbeads, but still is trying to identify alternative products that are biodegradable to replace the ingredient. So far, however, they haven't identified a new substance that provides the same benefits of the plastic microbeads, said Karin Ross, a spokeswoman for the Personal Care Product's Council, during the state House committee meeting last week.

Sponsors of the bill in Michigan want to get a law in place so the voluntary action already being taken becomes mandatory.

"This is a compromise among stakeholders with broad support from the industry and a time frame that gives manufacturers time to reformulate with safe alternatives," she said. "Development of new products is not simply swapping out one ingredient for another."

The proposed Michigan legislation has caused a split between the industry and environmentalists because of one word in the bill. The proposal, sponsored by Rep. Rick Outman, R-Six Lakes, calls for a ban of products that have "nonbiodegradable" microbeads. The problem, according to environmentalists, is that there is no definition of nonbiodegradable in terms of how long would be an acceptable amount of time for the product to break down in the environment.

"We don't believe this is enough. Just remove the word nonbiodegradable and ban all microbeads," said Amy Trotter, deputy director of the Michigan United Conservation Clubs.

State Rep. John Kivela, D-Marquette, agreed that the bill does essentially nothing without the definition of biodegradable and without the teeth of certain fines for failure to remove the particles before the phase-out of 2018.

"I see this as allowing the industry to do exactly what they're doing right now. There are a couple of states that have more aggressive laws than this," he said. "There is no state in this union that has more at risk than Michigan does. We should have the highest standard."

But Dirk Bloemendaal, a governmental affairs lawyer with Amway, told the committee that the legislation is a good first step toward eradicating microbeads.

"We're in the process of phasing out their use. We're moving very swiftly, but it takes time," he said. "This will provide certainty and consistency in the law and will prevent a patchwork of state laws which could be very harmful to the smooth flow of commerce."

State Rep. Andrea LaFontaine, R-Columbus, the committee chairwoman, said a vote could be taken on the bill — HB 4345 — after lawmakers look at the concerns presented last week.

Contact Kathleen Gray: 517-372-8661, kgray99@freepress.com or on Twitter @michpoligal.