Plastic microbeads: small bits with a big impact

You'veprobably seen commercials featuring theuse of microbeadsand you may have used them yourself. They are the little bits of plastic found in some facial scrubs, toothpastes, hand sanitizers and other personal care products that claim to help exfoliate by scrubbing away dirt more effectively. But to scientists and environmentalists, these plastic pebbles are hurting fish, wildlife andmay even be damaging human health.

• Pressure mounts to label microbeads as toxic
• Facial scrubs polluting Great Lakes with plastic
• Push to ban plastic microbeads gains momentum

Microbeads are not harmful when used directly, but issues arise once they are washed down the drain. They are so small that they can make it throughmost water treatment plants that don't have filter systems designed to catch minuscule particles. The plastic fragments then maketheirway into lakes, rivers and streams, where they can beingested by water-dwelling organisms such as fish.

Those environmental concerns haveled LoblawCompanies Ltd. to voluntarily announce that it will stop making products withmicrobeadsby 2018 as momentum continues to mount for a complete ban.

Contaminants can accumulate

"The concern is that these microbeads then make it up the food chain," said Philippe Van Cappellen, an ecohydrology professor at the University of Waterloo,who spoke to CBC's The Morning Edition in March. "Since they're so small, they also have a large surface relative to their mass and certain contaminants that are present in the environment can actually preferentially accumulate on those microbeads."

• What are microbeads?

Synthetic chemical compounds such as polychlorinated biphenyls and polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons can accumulate on the plastic bits, according to Van Cappellen.

"Those are compounds that are known or at least have been suggested to be causing cancer or birth defects and those are contaminants that preferentially will accumulate on the surfaces on these little plastic particles."

Research shows thatmicroplastics, including microbeads, carry these contaminants along the food chain, potentially allowing humans to consume them infood and water, Van Cappellen said. If a fish eats the plastic and someoneeats the fish, the risk of being affected by these cancer-causing contaminants is real.

Scientists don't have direct evidence that microbeadsposea direct health problemfor humans, but the concern is there, Van Cappellensays.

Calls for action

The potential dangeris why environmentalists in Illinois successfully pushed for a ban on plastic microbeads in personal care products in 2014. It's also why U.S. House Rep. Frank Pallone introduced a bill to ban the products south of the border by 2018.

In Canada, Mayor Keith Hobbs of Thunder Bay, Ont., said the presence ofmicrobeads in the Great Lakes is a "huge issue."

"We've had this on our radar for a few years now and ... we do discuss it at length [at] just about every meeting we have," he said in February.

A month after his comments,the House of Commons unanimously passed anNDP motioncalling for Ottawa to add microbeads to the list ofpotentially toxicsubstances.

The Conservative government saidEnvironment Canada would studythe dangers posed to wildlife and the environment bymicrobeads, and the findings would determine a federal-provincial action plan.

"The chemical management plan brought forth by our government willprioritizemicrobeadsfor assessment, which willbenefit all Canadians," Colin Carrie, the parliamentary secretary to the environment minister, said in March.

But NDP environment criticMeganLeslie,who introduced the Marchmotion,saidthe government is not acting fast enough.

"The Conservatives promised to tackle this pollution problem; but nothing concrete has been undertaken to act on the unanimous will of the House," she said in a May statement. "We want concrete action, now."

TheNDP'scritic for the Great Lakes, Brian Masse, said Canada should follow the example of other countries andeliminatemicrobeadsfrom everyday consumer products altogether.

The government said Thursday the review that is underway is evidence thatit is taking the issue seriously.

"The motion called for taking immediate measures, and that's exactly what our government is doing, " saidShane Buckingham, press secretary for Environment MinisterLeona Aglukkaq, in an email to CBC News. "Environment Canada has initiated a scientific review to assess the effects of microbeads on the environment."

In May, Liberal environment critic John McKayintroduced a private member'sbillto banthe sale of personal care products that containmicrobeads. He said his bill would "prevent some manufacturers from gaining an unfair advantage over companies that are showing leadership and phasing out this environmentally harmful ingredient."

There has also been a public petition postedon change.orgurging EnvironmentCanada to ban microbeads.