Microbead phaseout will help Lake Erie

When it comes to Lake Erie’s pollution problems, people generally think of the toxic algae blooms that form each summer, or toxins left behind by the industries that once dotted its shores.

But microbeads, minuscule plastic particles that have been added to everything from toothpaste to body scrubs, also have fouled the lake’s water for years, getting into tiny water life and fish before moving up the food chain to humans.

Not for long.

Last week, President Barack Obama signed into law legislation that will phase microbeads out of personal-care products over the next three years. Companies will be banned from manufacturing the beads after July 2017. Product-specific and sales bans will take effect in 2018 and 2019.