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<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:12.0pt"><a href="http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/18/your-favorite-facewash-is-killing-nemo.html#">http://www.thedailybeast.com/articles/2014/06/18/your-favorite-facewash-is-killing-nemo.html#</a></span><o:p></o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><b><font size="6" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:24.0pt;color:black;font-weight:bold">Your Favorite Facewash Is Killing Nemo<o:p></o:p></span></font></b></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">If your cosmetics have microbeads, they might soon be illegal. Turns out, the microplastics are polluting water and killing animals.
<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">For many of us, plastic pollution means the debris we can see. Bottles,
bags, and bits of larger items float in accumulating amounts through our oceans and lakes, affecting people, plants, and animals. More recently though, scientists have turned their attention to microplastics—tiny, mostly microscopic pellets that come from
the gradual breakdown of larger plastics. You might have even rubbed some of these pellets on your face this morning—one of the most obvious ways microplastics are used is as microbeads in cosmetics.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Microbeads are too small to be caught in sewage treatment plants, and as
a result they’re polluting our <a href="http://www.unep.org/yearbook/2011/pdfs/plastic_debris_in_the_ocean.pdf">
<font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">oceans</span></font></a>,<a href="http://www.uwsuper.edu/news/great-lakes-research-continues-for-dr-lorena-rios-mendoza_news1523830"><font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">
lakes</span></font></a>, and even <a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2014/05/29/arctic-ice-melting-release-plastic-trillion-pieces_n_5405631.html">
<font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">Arctic ice</span></font></a>, attracting the attention of scientists, activists, and legislators. Just this week, Illinois<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/local/breaking/chi-governor-signs-bill-making-illinois-first-state-to-ban-microbeads-20140608,0,2136529.story"><font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">
banned cosmetics containing microbeads</span></font></a>, with similar legislation in the works in<a href="http://ecowatch.com/2014/05/24/california-ban-plastic-microbeads/"><font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none"> California</span></font></a>
and<a href="http://www.wnyc.org/story/proposed-ban-microplastics-new-york-state/'"><font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none"> New York</span></font></a>. Companies like Unilever<a href="http://www.unilever.com/sustainable-living/Respondingtostakeholderconcerns/microplastics/"><font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">
recently phased out its use of microbeads</span></font></a> at the urging of activists. And while the research on how microplastics affect human and animal health is still underway, early findings are prompting some scientists to create biodegradable alternatives
for cosmetics.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Kirk Havens, a researcher at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, is
one of those scientists. He recently<a href="http://www.vims.edu/newsandevents/topstories/microbeads.php"><font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none"> received federal funding</span></font></a> to research PHA (polyhydroxyalkanoate),
a bioplastic made through bacterial fermentation. It’s physically similar to the synthetic plastics used to make microbeads, but less environmentally damaging.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Unlike some types of plastic, the majority of microplastics tend to float,
which means they move readily from your shower drain, through wastewater treatment plants, and into waterways. “It’s like the saying from
<i><span style="font-style:italic">Finding Nemo</span></i>,” explains <a href="http://www.vims.edu/about/directory/faculty/other/havens_k.php">
<font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">Havens.</span></font></a> “All drains lead to the ocean.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">PHA, on the other hand, is denser than water, and thus sinks to the bottom.
When it sinks, it’s buried with other sediment or consumed by salt or freshwater bacteria. This is an improvement over synthetic microplastics, which are more likely to be eaten by microorganisms that mistake the tiny pellets for food. But if bacteria consume
PHA, they break the substance down into water, carbon dioxide, biomass, and naturally occurring small molecules after a few months. These substances are relatively harmless compared to longer-living man-made plastics like polyethylene.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" align="center" style="text-align:center;line-height:115%;background:black;vertical-align:middle">
<font size="6" color="white" face="TitlingGothicFBStandCond"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:20.5pt;line-height:115%;font-family:TitlingGothicFBStandCond;color:white;letter-spacing:.95pt">“It’s like the saying from
<i><span style="font-style:italic">Finding Nemo</span></i>,” explains Havens. “All drains lead to the ocean.”<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">The chemicals that make up microplastic can also create “a potentially poison
pill” for the organisms that eat them, says <a href="http://chelsearochman.com/">
<font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">Chelsea Rochman</span></font></a>, a marine ecologist from the University of California at Davis. Microplastics<a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19528054"><font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">
stick to</span></font></a> other non-degradable pollutants like the insecticide DDT and polychlorinated biphenyls (PCB’s), both of which have been banned for decades but remain in traces in the environment. DDT, PCBs, and others have been shown to cause
<a href="http://www.cdc.gov/nceh/clusters/fallon/ddtfaq.htm#cause_leukemia"><font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">cancer</span></font></a>,
<a href="http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/toxfaqs/tf.asp?id=80&tid=20"><font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">nervous system damage</span></font></a>, and
<a href="http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/hazard/tsd/pcbs/pubs/effects.htm"><font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">hormonal changes</span></font></a>, according to Rochman. PHA, on the other hand, is assumed not to cause these issues.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">And because PHA is made of bacteria, it’s biodegradable. Worms and amphipods,
along with other animals, use or bury the pellets, which Havens observed after preliminary experiments. He believes the borrowing to be particularly advantageous, as it keeps the pellets from being re-suspended in the water and sets them up to be more quickly
consumed by microorganisms, he tells The Daily Beast.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Another critical aspect of PHA microbead development is whether they are
easily captured and disposed of in wastewater treatment plants. If they are, that would make them superior to small synthetic plastics, which float through the treatment plants and into our waterways. They can’t yet say for sure that PHA will work in this
way, but Havens is assessing this at the Hampton Roads Sanitation District, a treatment plant serving 1.6 million people in Virginia.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Havens is optimistic that if PHA beads could be used successfully in cosmetics
without losing their ability to scrub. That’s because PHA requires bacteria to be broken down, and many soaps and washes include antibacterial components to keep the products from going bad on the shelves, Havens says.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">But it won’t be easy. Further development of PHA cosmetic microbeads could
be stymied by developing legislation, which is meant to protect against man-made synthetic plastics, not necessarily bioplastics. That’s because some states, like California, define a microbead as any plastic less than 5 millimeters in size, made from linking
small molecules together through a chemical reaction. Technically, PHA falls under this definition, though Jason McDevitt, a technology transfer director for the Virginia Institute of Marine Science, hopes that the language will be amended before the bill
is potentially passed and made into law. The <a href="http://www.ilga.gov/legislation/publicacts/fulltext.asp?Name=098-0638">
<font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">Illinois legislation</span></font></a> does not include bioplastics like PHA, defining the banned microplastics to be of the synthetic type.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Costs are a potential issue, too. Havens thinks that the cost differences
for consumers will be minuscule, according to rough model calculations. But on a larger scale, companies that buy the beads in large quantities will have to pay more for the PHA in bulk. Some companies may embrace the chance to have their brand be associated
with less harmful microbeads despite the price uptick, but it's another unknown for the project.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">In the meantime,<a href="http://www.onearth.org/articles/2013/11/hey-cosmetics-industry-get-your-plastic-out-of-the-great-lakes"><font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none">
anti-plastic advocates are</span></font></a> helping to influence further industry changes. And other scientists are researching the effects microplastics have on the food web and our health.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">In any case, the anti-plastics movement is likely to gather steam in the
next few years. Havens and his team are working on getting a patent and then licensing their PHA, though you can be on the lookout for further biodegradable developments. Also, advocacy organizations will continue their work, like the Plastic Soup Foundation,
who released an<a href="http://get.beatthemicrobead.org/"><font color="black"><span style="color:black;text-decoration:none"> app</span></font></a> to help consumers determine whether their cosmetics contain microbeads. “Just having a greater understanding
of all these synthetic things we use every day” can start us on better behaviors limiting our use of plastics, says Courtney Arthur of NOAA.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal" style="mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt:auto"><font size="3" color="black" face="Times New Roman"><span lang="EN" style="font-size:12.0pt;color:black">Food for thought, the next time you wash up.<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Deborah L. DeBiasi</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><b><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy;font-weight:bold">Email: Deborah.DeBiasi@deq.virginia.gov</span></font></b><b><i><font size="2" color="red"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:red;font-weight:bold;font-style:italic"><br>
</span></font></i></b><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">WEB site address:
<a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/">www.deq.virginia.gov</a></span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Virginia Department of Environmental Quality</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Office of Water Permits
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Industrial Pretreatment/Whole Effluent Toxicity (WET) Program</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">PPCPs, EDCs, and Microconstituents<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><a href="http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx">http://www.deq.virginia.gov/Programs/Water/PermittingCompliance/PollutionDischargeElimination/Microconstituents.aspx</a></span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy"><o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="2" color="navy" face="Times New Roman"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Mail: P.O. Box 1105, Richmond, VA 23218</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">Location: 629 E. Main Street, Richmond, VA 23219</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:11.0pt;color:navy"><br>
</span></font><font size="2" color="navy"><span style="font-size:10.0pt;color:navy">PH: 804-698-4028 FAX: 804-698-4032<o:p></o:p></span></font></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><font size="3" color="#000099" face="Times New Roman"><o:p> </o:p></font></p>
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