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Many, perhaps most, Americans believe that a vast accumulation of (mostly plastic) garbage is floating somewhere out in the Pacific Ocean, a non-biodegradable stain on humanity, choking and deforming fish. But apparently, that is just a myth. Kip Hansen writing in Watts Up With That? cites NOAA's Ocean Service - Office of Response and Restoration:

President Obama approved a bill on Monday banning soaps, toothpastes, and bodywashes that contain a harmful ingredient. That ingredient is microbeads — tiny, nearly impossible-to-dissolve plastic particles that enter water streams by the billions. The beads are typically found in cleansing products because they can be used as tiny scrubbers, helping to wipe away oil and dirt from the skin or teeth.

Those little blue microbeads in your Crest toothpaste may be getting stuck in your teeth and gums, prompting dentists to ask toothpaste manufacturers for a change. The tiny scrubbers contain the ingredient polyethylene, a form of plastic that does not degrade and can stay embedded in your mouth. “Your body will see them as a foreign body, bacteria will clamp to them and it has the potential to cause gum disease, some form of gingivitis or harm to it,” Dr. Wade Pilling of Meridien, Indiana told KTVB.

I say “probably” because I haven’t had time to research the factual claims behind the legislation. But if anyone thinks conservatives are against all government action, then this might be a time to set the record straight. If the facts are correct then I think if is quite likely that the NY legislature is doing exactly what it needs to do. In that case, I hope other states, or even the Federal Government follows their example. Here is Newser.com’s summary:

Beauty products made from plastic microbeads set to be banned in New York New York could be the first state to outlaw tiny plastic beads used in cosmetic and beauty products like facial scrubs and toothpastes, if lawmakers in Albany get their way. The sale of products that contain the plastic beads, which are added to aid exfoliation and abrasion, will be prohibited if proposed legislation, introduced today on behalf of Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, is passed. Too small to be sifted out at sewage treatment plants, the tiny beads end up in the ocean where the plastic, which does...