A ban on selling some products containing plastic microbeads comes into effect from June 7 and will be enforced by the Environmental Protection Agency.
The ban does not include all products that contain the beads, which are less than five millimetres in size and are not biodegradable, says Dr Fiona Thomson-Carter, general manager of the EPA’s Hazardous Substances Group.
A guide is available on the EPA website .
"The microbeads are found in some common household products like face and body scrubs or exfoliators, 'wash-off' products like glitter bubble bath, heavy-duty hand soaps and in some toothpastes," she said.
"Plastic microbeads are not biodegradable, and at less than five millimetres in size, many end their life in the sea when they are washed down drains.
"Once in the sea they can absorb and leach toxins over time, and can potentially harm New Zealand’s marine life. Once eaten by marine life, they can potentially become a part of the human food chain."
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