Bill aims to ban beauty products with microbeads for Great Lakes safety

CHICAGO (WLS) -- Proposed legislation to keep the Great Lakes clean includes a ban on beauty products that contain microbeads.

Senator Mark Kirk and lawmakers from three other states worked to include the Great Lakes Water Protection Act in a 2016 Senate bill.

Microbeads are plastic particles that absorb toxic chemicals. Those microbeads are ingested by fish and wildlife, contaminating the food we eat.

"I want to make sure human beings are less exposed to higher and higher levels of plastics, make sure this danger never appears in your drinking water," Kirk said.

Part of the legislation would prohibit the sale of beauty products that contain microbeads.

That bill will head to the senate floor.