Correction to Scientific Evidence Supports a Ban on Microbeads

We made a transcription error in a calculation used in our Viewpoint article titled “Scientific Evidence Supports a Ban on Microbeads”. As a result, the following corrections should be made. Page 10759. In the beginning of the last paragraph it should read, “WWTPs in the United States are collectively capable of treating >160 billion L of water everyday. Using a conservative estimate, assuming all WWTPs operate at half capacity (i.e., treating 80 billion L/. . .”. Page 10760. In the figure, the first text box on the far right should read, “We estimate that 808 billion microbeads. . .”, the middle text box on the top should read, “We estimate that 8 billion microbeads. . .”, and the bottom text box should read, “Sludge is often land-applied as fertilizer and the remaining 800 billion microbeads. . .”. In addition, the figure should not have any citations/references. Page 10760. The first paragraph should read, “we calculate that 8 billion microbeads per day are emitted into aquatic habitats in the United States (Figure 1). This equals 2.9 trillion beads per year. If you line these microbeads up end to end, assuming they are 100 μm spheres, the United States emits enough microbeads to wrap around the planet >7 times. If we assume 99% of microbeads are captured during sedimentation, the remaining 800 billion microbeads settle into the sludge.”.