Our Legacy of Victory
Statewide Ban on Plastic Microbeads
Small plastic particles called microbeads used to flood Wisconsin’s waterways until a statewide ban was signed into law with sweeping support. Their small size meant they’d often end up flowing directly into our waterways putting ecosystems and human health at risk. In 2015, Clean Wisconsin worked to garner public support for a sweeping ban on the manufacture and sale of these products. The law set a precedent for regulating microplastics, which are a pressing issue for our environment and human health to this day.
Before the ban, more than an estimated 10,000 pounds of microbeads were washed down Wisconsin drains each year. Due to their small size, microbeads can move through water treatment systems and into our waterways. Once there, the microbeads continue to accumulate as they don’t easily break down in the environment. In addition, these plastic particles can find their way into the fish we catch and accumulate in greater amounts as large fish eat smaller fish, a process called biomagnification. Wisconsin’s law banned the manufacture of microbeads for many products by 2018 and got products containing microbeads out of retail stock by 2019.
Why It Matters
Microplastics like microbeads have been shown to make their way throughout the human body, including in the human nervous, respiratory, cardiovascular, and reproductive systems. While we need more research to understand the full scope of specific health risks, there are three main concerns we’re already aware of. First, due to their physical presence as a foreign object, microplastics may interfere with normal cell and tissue function. Second, microplastics can have toxic additives like flame retardants or plasticizers that are harmful once introduced into the body. Third, microplastics can absorb toxic pollutants in the environment like PCBs, PFAS and heavy metals, which can cause harm once in the body.
