By
Asha Glover
December 28, 2015 at 4:59 pm ET
President Obama on Monday signed into law a bill that prohibits the use of plastic microbeads in cosmetics.
The bill will update the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act by banning the use of microbeads in products like facial soap and toothpaste starting as early as July 2017.
The House and Senate passed the measure, H.R.1321, earlier this month. Rep. Frank Pallone (D-N.J.), the top Democrat on the House Energy and Commerce Committee, introduced the bill in March.
“It is a commonsense solution to this little-known but serious problem of plastic microbeads seeping into waterways and threatening the environment and ultimately our health,” Pallone said in a statement after the Senate cleared the measure. “The ban will spur an important transition from plastic microbeads to non-synthetic alternatives in personal care products.”