The Environmental Protection Agency announced on Thursday its proposal to include microplastics and pharmaceuticals on the list of drinking water contaminants for the first time, potentially paving the way for establishing new limits for these substances in water utilities.
According to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, the agency’s move addresses concerns from Americans about the presence of plastics and pharmaceuticals in their drinking water. This action also seeks to support Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s MAHA movement, which has been advocating for stricter measures against environmental contaminants for months.
The EPA’s Contaminant Candidate List highlights unregulated contaminants in drinking water under the Safe Drinking Water Act. The agency is releasing a draft of the sixth version of this list, initiating a 60-day public comment period, with plans to finalize it by mid-November.
“I can’t think of an issue that hits closer to home for American families than the safety of their drinking water,” Zeldin commented at the EPA Headquarters.
Research has examined the prevalence of microplastics in drinking water and within human hearts, brains, and testicles. While doctors and scientists continue to evaluate their health implications, there is concern about their potential risks. Additionally, there is increasing worry about pharmaceuticals entering the water supply, as conventional wastewater treatment plants fail to eliminate them.
The EPA utilizes the list to set research, funding, and regulatory priorities, but rarely advances pollutants from the list to set regulatory limits for public drinking water. The agency announced in March that it will not establish regulations for any of the nine pollutants it recently assessed.
“It’s the beginning of a very long process that routinely ends in nothing,” remarked Erik Olson, a senior attorney at the Natural Resources Defense Council who focuses on drinking water protection.
Nevertheless, some advocates for government action on plastic pollution view this announcement as a promising start.
“Including it in the list would be the first step toward eventually regulating microplastics in public water supplies, and hopefully this is not the last step,” stated Judith Enck, a former EPA regional administrator who currently leads Beyond Plastics.
Dr. Philip Landrigan, director of the Global Observatory on Planetary Health at Boston College, noted that although the EPA is taking positive steps, significant progress will require controlling the rapid increase in plastic production. The United States is involved in discussions for a global treaty on plastic pollution but opposes production limits.
Food & Water Watch acknowledges the listing’s importance but asserts it falls short of their demand for monitoring. The EPA’s Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule gathers data on suspected contaminants in drinking water.
The American Chemistry Council, an industry group, supports the monitoring of microplastics in drinking water and encourages research to comprehend their impacts, provided the monitoring is standardized nationwide.
Plastic pollution is part of the MAHA agenda
The collaboration between Kennedy and Zeldin arises as MAHA movement activists have developed tentative political connections with the EPA, expressing dissatisfaction with the lack of action on their priorities, such as pesticide regulation.
The movement gained attention earlier this year following an executive order from President Trump, which aimed to increase production of the herbicide ingredient glyphosate. Kennedy expressed disappointment but acknowledged its necessity for agricultural stability and national security.
The EPA has hinted at an upcoming MAHA agenda that will tackle issues including forever chemicals, plastic pollution, food quality, Superfund cleanups, and lead pipes. In February, EPA press secretary Brigit Hirsch informed The Associated Press that the agenda was nearing completion.
Kennedy, whose 2024 independent presidential campaign emphasized addressing plastic pollution, announced a $144 million initiative to better measure, understand, and remove microplastics from human bodies.
Dubbed STOMP, or Systematic Targeting of Microplastics, the project will involve developing tools to detect and quantify microplastics, tracking their movement through the body, and ultimately removing them, Kennedy explained.
“We can’t treat what we cannot measure, we cannot regulate what we don’t understand,” Kennedy stated at the EPA on Thursday. “Together, we’re going to define the risk, build the tools and act on the evidence regarding microplastics.”
EPA publishes the list every five years
The Safe Drinking Water Act, amended in 1996, requires the EPA to publish the Contaminant Candidate List every five years. Following publication, the agency must decide whether to regulate at least five contaminants from the list. Through five cycles of this process, the EPA has found that regulatory action is not needed for most of the contaminants reviewed.
Trump has sought fewer environmental regulations. In May, the EPA announced plans to rescind limits on some less common “forever chemicals” in drinking water, following the Biden administration’s establishment of the first national standards. The NRDC and other environmental advocates are working to maintain the entire Biden-era rule.
The new draft list includes four contaminant groups—microplastics, pharmaceuticals, PFAS, and disinfection byproducts—as well as 75 chemicals and nine microbes potentially present in drinking water, according to the EPA.
— Jennifer McDermott and Ali Swenson. Michael Phillis and Matthew Daly contributed reporting.
