Liberal environment critic John McKay, MP for Scarborough-Guildwood has introduced legislation to end the sale of personal care products containing microbeads in Canada.

 

Bill C-680, The Ban the Bead Bill, would amend the Food and Drugs Act to prohibit the sale of personal care products containing pieces of plastic up to five millimetres in size. Waste water treatment plants are unable to filter out these small plastic particles. As a result, microbeads work their way into Canada’s waterways where they are consumed by a variety of marine life, causing asphyxiation and/or blocking vital organs.

Mr. McKay consulted with industry and environmental groups prior to introducing the bill. Stakeholders have confirmed that natural alternatives that are not environmentally harmful do exist and can replace these plastic particles.

 

Several US states have already taken steps to ban microbeads, and Liberal MPP Marie-France Lalonde recently introduced similar legislation for the province of Ontario. Bill C-680 would establish a national standard for the cosmetics and personal care industry to comply with.

 

In March, the House of Commons voted unanimously in favour of an opposition motion calling for a ban on microbeads.