1、CRS InsightsMicrobeads: An Emerging Water Quality IssueClaudia Copeland, Specialist in Resources and Environmental Policy (ccopelandcrs.loc.gov, 7-7227)July 20, 2015 (IN10319)For decades, water quality professionals have faced the challenge of controlling a variety of conventional and nonconventiona
2、l pollutants (e.g., nutrients and suspended solids, oil and grease) and toxic chemical compounds that can harm aquatic life in lakes, streams, and coastal waters, as well as public health. Microbeads are contaminants of recent and growing concern. Microbeads are synthetic particles made of either po
3、lyethylene or polypropylene plastic. They are used as abrasives and exfoliants in hundreds of consumer and personal care products such as facial scrubs, shampoos and soaps, lip gloss, deodorants, and toothpaste. The particles are tinybetween 50 and 500 micrometers in diameter (the latter is about th
4、e size of the period on a printed page), and a single product can contain hundreds of thousands of microbeads. A number of companies are voluntarily removing microbeads from their products, and some stateseight so farhave passed laws to ban manufacture and sale of products with microbeads. At issue
