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LCQ11: Impact of microbeads contained in beauty and skin care products on the environment
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     Following is a question by the Hon Chan Hak-kan and a written reply by the Secretary for the Environment, Mr Wong Kam-sing, in the Legislative Council today (April 22):

Question:

     It has been reported that as the minute plastic beads (microbeads) contained in beauty and skin care products are less than 1 mm in diameter, they cannot be filtered out by the existing sewage treatment facilities. The microbeads discharged into the sea seriously affect marine ecology, which has aroused the concerns of the environmental protection authorities in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, etc. In this connection, will the Government inform this Council:

(1) whether it has compiled statistics on the number of beauty and skin care products containing microbeads available on the market in Hong Kong at present; whether the Government will publish a list of such products;

(2) whether it has compiled statistics on the concentration of microbeads contained in the water discharged into the sea by local sewage treatment works;

(3) whether it has studied the level of microbeads in the sea water within Hong Kong waters, and assessed the impact of microbeads on the local marine ecology;

(4) whether it will follow the practice of some countries in Europe and America by completely banning the import, sale and manufacture of products containing microbeads in Hong Kong; if it will not, what measures the Government has in place to reduce the impact of microbeads on the local marine ecology; if it will, of the details;

(5) whether it will educate the public on the impact of microbeads on the ecosystem and encourage the public to reduce the use of beauty and skin care products containing microbeads; if it will, of the details; if not, the reasons for that; and

(6) whether it will implement a labelling scheme to encourage manufacturers and agents of beauty and skin care products to affix labels to their products specifying whether such products contain microbeads?

Reply:

President,

     The potential environmental and ecological impact of minute plastic beads (microbeads) is an emerging environmental topic, and there is so far no international consensus or conclusion. International concern on microbeads mainly covers two aspects. First, if microbeads are discharged from untreated or treated wastewater into enclosed water bodies, such as lakes, microbeads may gradually accumulate, and if consumed by aquatic organisms as food, the ecosystem may be affected.  Second, possible adsorption and accumulation of toxic substances onto the surface of microbeads may also lead to ecological impact, and the toxic substances may enter the food chains.  Regarding the sources of microbeads, some may come from beauty and skin-care products as well as from the natural degradation of abandoned plastic materials.

     In Hong Kong, there is limited information and research on microbeads, and we have no sales statistics or inventory on those beauty and skin care products containing microbeads.  Nonetheless, local sewage treatment plants do not discharge treated effluent into lakes or reservoirs and, coupled with the comprehensive control on the release of toxic substances into our aquatic environment, according to our existing monitoring data, the levels of toxic substances in our marine waters, sediments and biota are low and do not exceed local and overseas standards (for example, standards adopted by the United States, Canada, European Union, Australia and Japan) for the protection of marine life and human health.  We consider that the potential environmental impact of microbeads should be relatively low in the local context.

     We are closely monitoring overseas development and research on microbeads. At this stage we do not have any plan to introduce regulatory control on beauty and skin care products containing microbeads.   We observe that overseas studies and long-term monitoring methods for microbeads are still being explored, and when the research methodology is more established, the Environmental Protection Department will consider conducting local studies to provide more accurate assessment of the local impact of microbeads, as well as the need for regulatory control.

Ends/Wednesday, April 22, 2015
Issued at HKT 13:48

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