EcoWaste Coalition Lauds Consensus to Ban Plastic Microbeads in Rinse-Off Personal Care Products
http://www.climateactionprogramme.org/news/plastic-microbeads-are-now-banned-in-the-uk
The EcoWaste Coalition, a waste and pollution watch
group, has lauded the support from various sectors to a legislative measure
that will prohibit the use of plastic microbeads in rinse-off personal care
products.
At yesterday’s hearing of the Committee on Ecology of the
House of Representatives, government, industry and civil society
representatives voiced their support to House Bill 8120, particularly with
respect to banning plastic microbeads, a known ocean pollutant, in rinse-off
personal care products such as facial cleansers, body washes, toothpastes and
others.
Ako Bicol Party-list Representatives Rodel M. Batocabe,
Alfredo A. Garbin, Jr. and Christopher S. Co. co-authored HB 8120, or the
proposed “Microplastic Ban Act of 2018,”
which is now co-introduced by Representatives Lawrence H. Fortun, Estrellita B.
Suansing, Ma. Lucille Naia, Maximo
Rodriguez, and Linabelle Ruth R. Villarica.
“The broad support to the proposal to ban plastic
microbeads in rinse-off personal care products will facilitate the bill’s
expedited approval by lawmakers,” said Thony Dizon, Chemical Safety Campaigner,
EcoWaste Coalition, as he noted the positive interventions made at the hearing by
the Food and Drug Administration (FDA),Consumer Protection and Advocacy Group-DTI, Chamber of Cosmetic Industry of the
Philippines (CCIP), Cosmetic Toiletry and
Fragrance Association of the Philippines, Philippine Society for Cosmetic
Science, and UL Skin Sciences Inc.
“The passage of the bill as amended will help in
addressing the escalating threat of microplastic pollution to the health of the
oceans and aquatic life,” Dizon said.
“We hope that a parallel bill will be introduced soon at
the Senate to speed up the ban on plastic microbeads,” he added.
The extremely tiny plastic microbeads in personal care
products go down the drain and into waterways, polluting the oceans with
microplastics that can attract and absorb hazardous chemicals, including
persistent organic pollutants (POPs), which are consumed by fish and other marine organisms who mistake
them for food, Dizon explained.
At the hearing , Emil Virtudes, President of CCIP,
expressed industry support for the measure as he cited the statement by the
ASEAN Cosmetic Association recommending to its members “the discontinuation of
the use of plastic microbeads in rinse-off personal care products” for the
protection of the marine environment.
Engr. Ana Rivera, Director of the FDA Center for
Cosmetics Regulation and Research, proposed, among other pertinent points, an amendment to the bill’s definition of
plastic microbeads so as not to limit the scope or coverage of the bill. As an example, she cited the definition by the
Global Plastic Task Force for plastic microbeads as “any intentionally added, 5
mm or less, water insoluble, solid plastic particle use to exfoliate or cleanse
in rinse-off personal care products.”
It will be recalled that in January 2017, the EcoWaste
Coalition and over 50 other environmental conservation and protection groups
wrote to the Department of Health and
the FDA to urge the government to ban plastic microbeads in personal care and
cosmetic products.
This was followed by a petition in April 2017 led by the
EcoWaste Coalition and counterpart NGOs in Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand and
Vietnam urging the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to prohibit,
as a regional bloc, the use of plastic
microbeads in personal care and cosmetic products “to cut ocean pollution and protect
marine life.”
To boost the local campaign, the EcoWaste Coalition
collaborated with the CCIP to bring Dr. Ann Blake, a public health and
environmental consultant, to the 3rd Philippines International Beauty Show in
May 2017 for a presentation on “Microplastics in Cosmetics: A Rapidly Emerging Environmental Concern.”
The second United Nations Environment Assembly (UNEA) had
stated that “the presence of plastic litter and microplastics in the marine
environment is a rapidly increasing serious issue of global concern that needs
an urgent global response.”
Through Resolution 2/11, UNEA urged governments and
product manufacturers to phase out microplastic particles in PCCPs and “their
replacement with organic or mineral non-hazardous compounds.”
-end-
https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/9664/-Plastic_in_cosmetics_Are_we_polluting_the_environment_through_our_personal_care_-2015Plas.pdf?sequence=3&isAllowed=y
http://cep.unep.org/meetings/documents/b90e237bc55661471a761a1d1bfcfb2d
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