Plastic microbeads to be banned in Canada

The ban came in keeping with the environmental complaint for removing the tiny pollutant from Canadian waters as was published last Friday in the Canada Gazette.

Prohibition of microbeads found in natural health products and non-prescription drugs will be prohibited a year later, from July 1, 2019.

After studying the impacts of plastic microbeads on wild life and the environment under the previous Conservative government in March 2015, Environment Canada officially declared toxicity in the beads in June this year.

The tiny pieces of plastic used for cleaning in toiletries do not dissolve and when these enter oceans, lakes and rivers, the beads are ingested by a variety of organisms.

Under the proposed change to the Canadian Environmental Protection Act, new regulations will prohibit the manufacture and import of microbeads starting at the beginning of 2018, with the sales ban starting six months later.

Media reports said writing on the walls warning men of toxic ingredients in grooming products had to some extent led the industries to limit plastic beads in packaging.

The ban of microbeads in toiletries was approved by the U.S. Congress last December, effective from July 1, 2017.

In December 2014 the European Union Commission recognized that the materials could not be labelled as environment friendly.

Australia’s voluntary move to ban the use of microbeads in effect for mid-2018 was commended by the group Environmental Defence.

Laws prohibiting the sale and manufacture of beads in personal care products have already been passed by nine U.S. states.

Canadian Cosmetic Toiletry and Fragrance Association stated a majority of Canadian manufacturers started voluntarily phasing out production of plastic microbeads by the time the federal prohibition comes into force.

(Reporting by Asha Bajaj)