California Passes Microbeads Ban – But It May Become Preempted

December 3, 2015
Ann Grimaldi

On October 8, 2015, California Jerry Brown signed AB 888 into law, which bans plastic microbeads in personal care products (including toothpaste) at or above 1 parts per million by weight. The law goes into effect in 2020. Enforcement is by civil lawsuits brought by the California Attorney General and other public authorities. Violators are subject to civil penalties of up to $2,500 per day; a court also may order injunctive relief.

California’s microbeads ban is not the first in the nation, but is the only one that would cover biodegradable plastics within its prohibition. An industry coalition opposed the bill, arguing that the law stifles innovation and creates confusing ambiguities about whether naturally derived and nature identical alternatives are prohibited.

In the meantime, on November 18, 2015, the U.S. House of Representatives unanimously approved H.R. 1321, a federal bill that would ban the sale or distribution of rinse-off cosmetic products that contain plastic microbeads. Under a proposed amendment of this bill, state microbeads-cosmetics laws would be preempted.

Ann Grimaldi

Ms. Grimaldi maintains a diverse environmental law practice focusing on chemical and product regulation and litigation defense. Her practice areas include Proposition 65, California's Safer Consumer Products Regulations, California's Rigid Plastic Packaging Container Act and the federal Toxic Substances Control Act. Ms. Grimaldi graduated from the University of California Hastings College of the Law magna cum laude and holds a Bachelor of Science Degree in Bacteriology from University of California, Davis. Prior to attending law school, she worked as a research assistant in laboratories at the University of California, San Francisco Cancer Research Institute and at the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine.