The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it would seek to remove microplastics and pharmaceuticals from drinking water as part of its effort to improve water standards. [some emphasis, links added]
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin, along with Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert Kennedy, unveiled the Sixth Contaminant Candidate List, which identifies substances that may require regulation under the Safe Drinking Water Act.
The move is in tandem with the announcement of the Systematic Targeting Of MicroPlastics (STOMP) program, which aims to crack down on microplastics and pharmaceutical drugs found in drinking water.
The STOMP program, led by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health, is expected to cost $144 million to combat microplastics found in the human body at alarming rates.
“For too long, Americans have vocalized concerns about plastics and pharmaceuticals in their drinking water. That ends today,” EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin said in a press release.
“By placing microplastics and pharmaceuticals on the Contaminant Candidate List for the first time ever, EPA is sending a clear message: we will follow the science, we will pursue answers, and we will hold ourselves to the highest standards to protect the health of every American family.”
Microplastics are tiny particles that enter drinking water through pollution and the breakdown of larger plastics, which can affect the respiratory system and contaminate soil, per the Illinois EPA.
Americans ingest 39,000 to 52,000 microplastic particles a year, and the number increases to over 100,000 when inhalation is factored in, according to a 2019 analysis from the American Chemical Society.
The HHS program will take place in two phases, with the first focusing on researching the accumulation of microplastics in the body and the second on how to safely remove them from the body. Using the data, the agency plans to develop technology for vulnerable groups and reduce microplastic intake.
“We will develop targeted clinically safe strategies to reduce microplastic burden in the body,” Kennedy said.
Kennedy also noted a study from the University of New Mexico that examined 62 placentas and found microplastics in every sample, suggesting it was “evidence that exposure begins before birth.”
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Ocean microplastics are generated by emissions of gases and minerals from sea floor geysers, volcanoes, and faults. Some sources have estimated, based on new high resolution elevation mapping of earths seafloor that there are three to five million of these geological features. When comparing the volume of ocean microplastics with the volume of human generated microplastics the numbers are very telling. The human microplastics represent approximately 1% of total ocean microplastics.