Water firms should stop using toxic plastic beads, says MP

The use of tiny toxic plastic beads at sewage works should be banned nationwide, an MP and wildlife experts have said after a devastating spill at an internationally important nature reserve.

- Helena Horton Environment reporter

Hundreds of millions of “bio-beads” washed up on Camber Sands beach in East Sussex last month, after a failure at a Southern Water sewage treatment works caused a catastrophic spill. It has distressed and alarmed local people and conservationists, as the beads pose a deadly threat to wildlife, as well as being unsightly.

Scientists at King’s College London tested the beads and found they contained heavy metals including lead and arsenic.

The local Labour MP, Helena Dollimore, yesterday launched a campaign with the Wildlife Trusts to get the use of these beads banned for good. There is no record held by the government or the regulator of how many water plants use these beads, the condition of the contain ers holding them, or the risk posed to any nearby beaches.