REGULATING AND REDUCING POLLUTION - Marine Pollution: What Everyone Needs to Know - page 228

pharmacies. Some states have legislation in the works to pro-
hibit the manufacture, distribution, and sale of personal care
cosmetic products containing plastic microbeads. State and
national proposals to regulate toxic fire retardants should be
supported and flammability standards should be changed so
that toxic fire retardants such as PBDEs are not mandated in
upholstery and furniture.
Debris
Effective waste reduction and recycling programs should be
developed. In the Los Angeles area, 20 tons of plastic frag-
ments—from grocery bags, straws, and soda bottles—are car-
ried into the Pacific Ocean every day. The state is focusing on
preventing garbage from entering the sewer systems in the
cities in the watershed, because those sewers lead to the Los
Angeles River. To keep garbage out of the sewers, the state
is regularly cleaning the streets, educating the public about
proper garbage disposal, and providing public garbage cans.
In addition, the state is removing garbage that enters the sew-
ers by using devices that sieve out much of the garbage from
the sewers before it reaches the river. Getting the EPA and
state agencies to set strict water-quality standards for plastic
pollution will help promote early detection and prevention of
plastic waste as well as the cleanup of beaches and oceans. It
will encourage states and municipalities to develop new ways
to limit the plastic entering the waste stream, and stimulate
creative solutions to this pervasive problem.
Toxic Chemicals
In the absence of strong federal laws, state laws should be
strengthened to reduce pollution from industrial chemicals. In
California, Proposition 65 requires businesses to notify peo-
ple about the chemicals that are in consumer products or are
released into the environment. The list of chemicals includes
many substances that are known to cause cancer, birth defects,