It seems like only last week I was typing up a quick report about the U.S and their The Microbead Free Waters Act; come the 1st of July 2017 (a lot sooner than I imagined), cosmetic brands will begin to phase out the tiny, plastic beads often found in toothpaste, body wash and body scrubs. Rather impressively, the U.S have a fairly firm stance on Microbeads - Illinois banned the sale of products containing such beads back in 2014. California also pledged to phase out the beads by 2020 long before the The Microbead Free Waters Act was passed and rightly so too.

Next to follow suit is Sweden - Kemi, the Swedish Chemicals Agency, has proposed a ban on rinse-off cosmetic products containing Microbead from January 2018. As of now I am unsure if that includes toothpaste or not but I'd imagine it will, it would be rather pointless to half heartedly regulate the production of the tiny plastic shards, only to allow certain products to slip under the radar. Kemi also want to see such regulation expand throughout the EU, after a little research it does seem that Denmark will follow Sweden's lead in the coming months and years. You can read more about Kemi's proposal here - link.
If you are wondering what the U.K's current stance is on the issue, let me catch you up. Within the U.K 25 manufacturers have stated that will they will ensure that all of their products are 100% Microbead free, a small dent but a start none the less.

So what is the problem with those often bright,...