U.S. Senator Calls For Ban On Plastic Microbeads

OSWEGO, NY (CSB SF)— A U.S. Senator wants to see a ban on those plastic microbeads that are used in personal care products.

Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY) is urging Congress to pass new legislation - after word that up to 1.1 million plastic particles per square kilometer turned up in Lake Ontario.

Microbeads are in items like facial scrubs, body washes, hand cleansers and toothpastes.

They're supposed to go down the drain - but they're too small to be caught by wastewater treatment plants.

Instead, they end up in waterways, where the concentrate toxins and can be ingested by birds and fish. State officials say up to 19 tons of plastic microbeads wash down drains each year and into New York's waterways.