Joint initiative marks first-ever inclusion of microplastics on EPA's Contaminant Candidate List and launches groundbreaking ARPA-H program to detect and remove plastics from the human body
For the first time in the program's history, EPA is including microplastics as a priority contaminant group in its draft Sixth
Contaminant Candidate List (CCL 6), now
open for public comment. CCL 6 also includes pharmaceuticals as a group—another first—along with per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), disinfection byproducts, 75 individual chemicals, and nine microbes that may be present in public drinking water systems.
The CCL is a critical tool under the Safe Drinking Water Act (SDWA) that drives research, funding, and future decisions on regulating emerging threats to drinking water.
Additionally, the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) announced the launch of
STOMP—Systematic Targeting of Microplastics—a first-of-its-kind nationwide initiative to build a comprehensive toolbox for measuring, researching, and removing microplastics and nanoplastics (MNPs) from the human body. STOMP takes a three-pronged approach:
- Measure: Deploy gold-standard detection technology to accurately quantify microplastics levels in water and human tissue.
- Target: Identify the most harmful plastic contaminants and determine how they enter and move through the body.
- Remove: Develop and validate methods to eliminate microplastics from the human body.
The
CCL is published every five years under the SDWA and guides EPA's research priorities, funding decisions, and regulatory agenda for substances not yet subject to national drinking water standards. 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.
Seven U.S. governors from states including New Jersey and Michigan as well as
175 environmental and health groups late last year
filed a legal petition calling on the EPA to add microplastics to the list of contaminants to monitor.
When
Kennedy ran for the 2024 Democratic presidential nomination, he pledged to tackle plastic pollution, including its production.
