US Edition
EPA moves to designate microplastics and pharmaceuticals as contaminants in drinking water
The draft list would trigger research and possible future regulation, while HHS launches a $144 million program to study microplastics in the human body.
- On Thursday, the Environmental Protection Agency added microplastics to its draft Contaminant Candidate List, a move Administrator Lee Zeldin called a "historic step." The draft opens a 60-day public comment period.
- Responding to petitions from environmental groups and governors, the Trump administration placed microplastics on the list alongside PFAS. Sherri Mason, a researcher at Gannon University, called it "an important first step."
- Inclusion mandates the EPA collect data on microplastics prevalence under the Safe Drinking Water Act, which requires list updates every five years. Actual regulations could take a decade or longer to materialize.
- Mary Grant with Water Watch noted the Trump administration could still add microplastics to the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule . Grant stated, "We are hoping for both outcomes, because on its own, this is not enough."
- Earthjustice attorney Brien dismissed the announcement as "theater" and "a distraction from the real harm" caused by undermining legal protections. This skepticism contrasts the agency's rhetoric with long-term regulatory timelines.
53 Articles
53 Articles
Federal agencies to study microplastics and pharmaceuticals in drinking water
U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. and Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lee Zeldin announced new initiatives to tackle microplastics in the human body and drinking water.
Health Agencies Target Microplastics in Unprecedented Move
The Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) are taking bold strides to protect Americans’ health, announcing programs combatting microplastics. The agencies are putting forward a “landmark set of actions” to protect the nation’s drinking water from “microplastics, pharmaceuticals, forever chemicals, and dozens of other contaminants.” Seventy-five chemicals and nine microbes that may be found in drink…
EPA claims ‘major win’ on drinking water safety, but regulations may be years away
How do microplastics and pharmaceutical medications affect the safety of the nation’s tap water? It’s a question the US Environmental Protection Agency says it will try to answer for the first time.
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