Plastic microbead ban passes in the California Senate.

This week's cover story reports on the growing problem of microplastic in the ocean, which acts like a sponge for other toxic chemicals. Marine life ingests some of these tiny plastic pieces, which means that like it or not, our trash is now part of the ocean food chain.

Today, the California State Senate passed AB 888, a bill to ban the use of plastic microbeads in personal-care products (like exfoliating face wash and sparkly toothpaste).

The bill is authored by Assemblyman Richard Bloom, D-Santa Monica, and sponsored by Californians Against Waste (CAW), The Story of Stuff Project, The 5 Gyres Institute, Clean Water Action and the California Association of Sanitation Agencies. 

"This legislation will eliminate the billions of plastic microbeads that are dumped into California's precious freshwater and marine environments every day," says Mark Murray, CAW executive director. "I am confident that, if the governor signs this bill, future generations will look back and wonder why these tiny pieces of plastic were ever even considered for use in products that are designed to be washed down the drain."

Letise LaFeir, Monterey Bay Aquarium's California Ocean Policy Manager, who is lobbying for AB 888, reported by text from the State Capitol that an amended version of the bill—with language added on Tuesday to create a vetting and approval process for alternatives to plastic microbeads—fell just short of the votes it needed to pass yesterday.

So supporters MacGyvered the bill, bringing it back to the Senate floor today with the new language, which LaFeir says industry lobbyists objected to, removed.

It worked, passing 24-14. The revised bill will return to the Assembly for concurrence, then head to the governor's desk.

Full disclosure: As my comrade and colleague Mark C. Anderson reported on the blog, I am leaving the Weekly to begin work as the external affairs coordinator for Monterey Bay Aquarium's Conservation & Science division, which is lobbying for AB 888.