Nearly 200 groups are lining up in support of a request for the federal government to regulate microplastics through the Safe Water Drinking Act.
A petition spearheaded by a nonprofit group called Food & Water Watch is asking the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to include them in an upcoming update to consider contaminates that have not yet been regulated.
EPA is required, every five years, to identify and consider adding contaminants that have been unregulated to date, FWW said in a new petition to the agency.
"EPA's obligations include identifying unregulated contaminants that may occur in drinking water, requiring public water systems to monitor for unregulated contaminants, and determining whether regulation is necessary to protect public health. Specifically with regard to monitoring, EPA must promulgate a monitoring program for up to 30 unregulated contaminants every five years," the petition states.
As more becomes known about the impact of microplastics, FWW and its fellow petitioners believe they now belong on the monitoring list. EPA is slated to adopt final rules for this latest round of potential additions to the list in December 2026, with proposed additions identified in 2025.
FWW has lined up 175 groups — including national, regional, state and local organizations — to support the EPA petition. That covers national groups including Beyond Plastics, Greenpeace USA and the Waterkeeper Alliance as well as much smaller organizations such as Pittsburghers Against Single Use Plastics and Schenectady Neighbors for Peace.
"The science is clear and alarming: Microplastics are everywhere in our world and in all of our bodies, posing a very serious threat to human health. The time is now for the EPA to finally address this emerging health threat, and that starts with formal, comprehensive monitoring for microplastics in drinking water throughout the country," FWW Executive Director Wenonah Hauter said in a statement.
"We can't wait another five years or more for the EPA to get serious about investigating the ways in which toxic microplastics pollute our water and invade our bodies," she said.
Drinking water, FWW said, is a primary source of human ingestion of microplastics around the world. EPA has created regulations for more than 90 drinking water contaminants since the creation of the Safe Water Drinking Act in 1974.
"Microplastics are pervasive and harmful particles. They are ubiquitous in the environment, endanger human health, and occur in drinking water, which people consume and use daily," the petition states.