Local Democrats want to follow the lead of Erie County, and ban the sale of products containing microbeads in Monroe County.
Microbeads are tiny plastic particles found in a number of personal care products such as facial scrubs, body washes and even toothpaste.
They're an environmental concern because they are so small that they bypass most waste-water treatment plants and flow into bodies of water, including the Great Lakes.
Microbeads end up in the food chain after fish eat them. The beads themselves aren't toxic, but scientists say they absorb toxins from the water.
Under legislation sponsored by Democrat Dorthy Styk, Monroe County would ban the sale of any product containing microbeads.
"Lake Ontario has high concentrations of plastic microbeads from personal care products. Microbeads are harmful to wildlife and humans due to the harmful chemicals from which they are produced. I believe that Monroe County should be proactive in protecting our natural resources, especially one of the most critical to our environment, Lake Ontario," she said. "I am proposing this legislation to protect our natural resources and wildlife. I hope to receive bipartisan support as was done in Erie County for a similar bill."
The Majority Leader of the Monroe County Legislature, Steve Tucciarello says the Republicans on the legislature would rather see a national approach to impacting the microbead issue.
He says just taking a position as a county isn’t enough.
“What we need to do is protect Lake Ontario from everybody putting microbeads in. Don’t forget there’s many more counties that touch it on our side of the lake, there’s another country, there’s several states touching the other Great Lakes that all feed into Lake Ontario “
Tucciarello says a GOP lawmaker will propose a measure that would see the Monroe County legislature supporting a federal measure that is already under discussion.
According to the Democrats' proposed legislation, violations would be punishable by a fine of up to $1,000 for the first offense and up to $2,000 for a second offense.
Similar legislation has won the approval of the New York State Assembly in the past two years, but the bill has been stalled in the Senate.
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman called microbeads a threat to our environment, wildlife, public health. According a 2014 report by the AG's office, nearly 19 tons of microbeads get washed down the drain each year in New York State.
You can spot microbeads in a product's ingredient list under the words polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), or nylon.
Leading personal care product companies Procter and Gamble, Unilever and Colgate-Palmolive have already started adopting alternatives to microbeads such as ground almonds and pumice in its products.
Wegmans has been working for the past two years with manufacturers to remove products containing microbeads from all of its stores
The company says its health and beauty care department will be microbead-free by the end of the year or sooner.
Watch a clip of a news conference where the ban on Microbeads was introduced by the Democratic Party
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZBqCjCZoIog
Watch as legislator Dorothy Styk explains why the push to ban microbeads should start at the local level
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tvhjH2gRRW4
