Addressing the Issue of Microplastics in the Wake of the Microbead-Free Waters Act - A New Standard Can Facilitate Improved Policy

Authors

Jason P. McDevitt
Craig S. Criddle
Molly Morse
Robert Hale, Virginia Institute of Marine ScienceFollow
et al

Document Type

Article

Department/Program

Virginia Institute of Marine Science

Publication Date

6-2017

Journal

Environmental Science and Technology

Volume

51

Issue

12

First Page

6611

Last Page

6617

Abstract

The United States Microbead-Free Waters Act was signed into law in December 2015. It is a bipartisan agreement that will eliminate one preventable source of microplastic pollution in the United States. Still, the bill is criticized for being too limited in scope, and also for discouraging the development of biodegradable alternatives that ultimately are needed to solve the bigger issue of plastics in the environment. Due to a lack of an acknowledged, appropriate standard for environmentally safe microplastics, the bill banned all plastic microbeads in selected cosmetic products. Here, we review the history of the legislation and how it relates to the issue of microplastic pollution in general, and we suggest a framework for a standard (which we call “Ecocyclable”) that includes relative requirements related to toxicity, bioaccumulation, and degradation/assimilation into the natural carbon cycle. We suggest that such a standard will facilitate future regulation and legislation to reduce pollution while also encouraging innovation of sustainable technologies.

DOI

doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05812

Keywords

Microplastics, marine debris, litter

Recommended Citation

McDevitt, Jason P.; Criddle, Craig S.; Morse, Molly; Hale, Robert; and et al, Addressing the Issue of Microplastics in the Wake of the Microbead-Free Waters Act - A New Standard Can Facilitate Improved Policy (2017). Environmental Science and Technology, 51(12), 6611-6617.

doi: 10.1021/acs.est.6b05812