The US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has said that microplastics will be included as a ‘priority contaminant group’ in its draft Sixth Contaminant Candidate List (CCL 6), marking the first time that they have been included.
CCL 6 also includes pharmaceuticals as a group, which the EPA also says is a first, along with polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), disinfection by-products, 75 individual chemicals, and nine microbes that may be present in public drinking water systems. The CCL helps prioritise funding, research, and information collection to help understand the potential health risks of these substances in drinking water. Inclusion on the CCL does not constitute regulation, but signals that a substance warrants serious scientific attention and may be considered for future regulatory action.
It said microplastics are now officially its "on the EPA's radar as a drinking water priority", noting that elevating microplastics to the CCL as a contaminant group unlocks focused research and potential future regulation.
Coordinating with the EPA, additional work to tackle microplastics is being carried out by the Department of Health and Human Services’ Advanced Project Agency for Health (ARPA-H) which has launched a national initiative – Systematic Targeting of Microplastics (STOMP) – aimed at “building a comprehensive toolbox for measuring, researching and removing microplastics and nanoplastics from the human body."
STOMP, which is backed by $144 million in funding, has three aims which will be carried out in two phases. The first phase will see the design of experiments to understand microplastics within the human body as well as developing “gold-standard” microplastic measurement methods, including a clinical test that will quantify individual microplastic burden. ARPA-H says that this work will lead to the production of a “risk stratification mechanism” for plastic materials – ranking them by biological harm – so that scientists, policymakers and industry share a “common answer to the most important question in the field: which microplastics need to be addressed first, and in what ways.”
The second phase will focus on their removal. “Different microplastics accumulate in different organs, across different cellular barriers and disrupt different biological pathways,” says ARPAH-H. “Only by knowing which types cause the most harm, where they concentrate, and how they move through the body can we design interventions that are precise, safe and effective. The approaches will draw on pharmaceutical biology and bioremediation science.” ARPA-H added.
Further reading:
- How microplastics are affecting the oceans’ ability to absorb carbon dioxide
- Antimicrobial resistance: How microplastics can increase the spread of AMR
- Tap water protects against microplastics
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