Booker, Merkley, Krishnamoorthi, Bynum Urge EPA to Begin Monitoring Microplastics in America's Drinking Water

WASHINGTON, D.C. - U.S. Senators Cory Booker (D-NJ) and Jeff Merkley (D-OR), along with U.S. Representatives Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL-8) and Janelle Bynum (D-OR-5), led a bicameral letter joined by 53 colleagues urging EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin to include microplastics in the agency's Sixth Unregulated Contaminant Monitoring Rule (UCMR 6). The lawmakers argue that EPA should begin monitoring microplastics in America's drinking water, citing a growing body of research linking the emerging contaminant to serious adverse health effects.

In their letter, the lawmakers note that emerging research has found microplastics throughout the human body and are associated with lung disease, increased risk of heart attack and stroke, impaired kidney and liver function, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's disease and dementia. They argue that adding microplastics to UCMR 6 would provide critical transparency regarding exposure, inform future health-protective standards under the Safe Drinking Water Act, and help ensure the federal government meets its responsibility to protect the health and safety of the American people.

"As plastic production continues to expand rapidly, microplastics pose a potential threat to public health in the United States. Emerging research demonstrates that microplastics are now pervasive in the human body and are associated with serious adverse health effects. Concentrations of microplastics in human brain tissue have been reported to increase by nearly 50 percent between 2016 and 2024," the lawmakers wrote.

"Accordingly, we urge the EPA to add microplastics to UCMR 6 and to design a robust, nationwide monitoring program for microplastics in drinking water. Doing so will provide critical transparency regarding exposure, inform future health-protective standards under SDWA, and help ensure that the federal government meets its responsibility to protect the health and safety of the American people," the lawmakers concluded.

The letter also highlights growing bipartisan congressional interest in better understanding how microplastics affect Americans' health, pointing to the recently introduced bipartisan, bicameral Microplastics Safety Act and ARPA-H's STOMP program to develop technologies to measure and remove microplastics from the body. The lawmakers argue EPA has a critical role to play as the primary agency regulating drinking water.

Read the full text of the letter here.