The Harper government doesn’t get a lot of praise for environmental good deeds, but it’s poised to make one voter-friendly move: banning microbeads.
The feds announced that their own scientific review found that those scrubby plastic beads “may have long-term effects on biological diversity and ecosystems.”
The result? They’re proposing to add microbeads to the list of toxic substances under the Canadian Environmental Protection Act. The feds are also promising to publish a notice of intent to prohibit the manufacture, import and sale of microbead-based body care items.
Sounds great, but environmentalists note that even though the government declared triclosan toxic in 2012, products containing the antibacterial are still available on store shelves. Same goes for fire retardant HBCD, which was declared toxic in 2011.
Certainly the feds have a knack for making eco-friendly announcements when elections are imminent. They’ve done it before with BPA and other compounds. Helps to make them look like they’re taking action on environmental issues, when in truth, changes never materialize.
Says Environmental Defence’s Tim Gray: “Action is needed now. Every day, thousands of microbeads are polluting rivers and lakes across the country.”
ecoholic@nowtoronto.com | @ecoholicnation
