Defend Our Health, along with 29 peer organizations across the country, applaud EPA for identifying microplastics as a drinking water priority. EPA is taking this important step in response to a joint petition from the governors of New Jersey, Delaware, Illinois, Maryland, Michigan, Wisconsin, and Connecticut to include microplastics in USEPA’s Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 6) for drinking water.
The multi-state petition highlighted both the power of states to protect health and the widespread prevalence of microplastics in drinking water, evolving evidence of health risks, particularly in children, and the need for a federal framework to standardize a definition, analytical methods, and monitoring.
We urge EPA to prioritize regulating microplastics in drinking water, and adding microplastics to the Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring List is the most effective first step to achieving this goal.
Production, transportation, and use of plastics causes significant pollution and toxic exposures, including from microplastic and nanoplastic particles. These particles enter air, water, and soil, placing residents of our communities – and especially children – at increased risk of harm, especially in combination with the numerous other toxic substances we are regularly exposed to.
EPA should study the level of microplastics that enter drinking water in drinking water systems from plastic pipes and fixtures and should spur research on microplastics in drinking water, especially related to detection methods. We need EPA to take steps to eliminate microplastics from drinking water, not just to treat the water, which involves source reduction – we have to phase out the use of plastic everywhere where safer and effective alternatives exist.