Both the Federal and Provincial governments are moving towards eliminating microbeads in the Great Lakes.
A Coastal Resources Manager with the Lake Huron Centre for Coastal Conservation explains microbeads are very small plastic beads commonly found in personal products like face wash.
Geoff Peach points out microbeads not only are not bio-degradable but they can also absorb toxic substances like pcb's and so become something of a super-poison pill that is ingested by fish and moves through the food chain.
The Provincial Legislature has given second reading to a bill that would ban the production of microbeads for use in personal products as of 2017, while in the House of Commons a bill has been introduced that would add microbeads to the government's list of toxic substances.
Peach points out though that because the microbeads don't naturally bio-degrade, the issue of how to get rid of the microbeads that are already in the Great Lakes remains a problem.
